Celebratory Weekend!

As I may have mentioned (once on my blog and, like, fifty bajillion times last night to anyone who was remotely in my vicinity), I handed in my last essay.

Last night was also the last Hall pub night of the year, as they start the dreaded SwotVac tonight. Noise curfew sucks! So I saw the night as my own personal Finished Uni Celebration, and it was awesome.

Tonight is the Hall musical, tomorrow is the Christmas Pageant, tomorrow night is dinner at Hog's Breath with the work crew, and Sunday Carla is coming to visit me. Cel-e-brate good times, come on! I am a wee bit excited about all these goings-on. Oh! And then Sunday night I will have time to watch the Heroes that I missed last night because I was out doing this:

Last Essay!

Today I handed in my last essay.

I haven't mentioned the topic before now, because I didn't want to influence my subject at all, but I managed to babble out almost 6000 words on the monetisation of the blogosphere. (I'll probably add all the links I used later on.)

Of course, handing it in couldn't go smoothly - every time I sent my 4 page reference list to the printer it came up as 32 pages and $5 worth. Uh, no thanks. So that was weird. In the end the library tech people printed it off with their card just to see what would happen. It printed out the four pages no worries. No idea how much they got charged for it though!

Then the library stapler was out of staples, so I had to ask that library person for some. She was all, "You can just use the electric one," which frankly scares me. But I did it. And it was out of staples. Yeah, the library people really hated me today.

In the end, though, I HANDED IN MY LAST ESSAY!

Which means I'm done, which means I am heading out! Pics from the Tons to come, maybe tomorrow, or maybe not, because I have a very full few days ahead of me, and I am hella excited!

Ok, so my mates are taking their sweet time getting ready to go out, so here are the links I used in my essay. Thanks all!

Dooce.com Heather B Paul Boutin Bri Amalah Federated Media: Dooce Reyhan Harmanci Heather Holly Whoorl Kacey Carrie Kirby The Bloggess MommyTime Rose Rose Sara Technorati: State of the Blogosphere 2008

Learning New Skills

I know, I'm shocked. Who knew that uni would actually demand that we learn things? I personally thought my one skill - writing a passable essay at midnight the night before - was the only one they demanded, and the entire course was simply intended to assist with refining this skill.

Last night I finished the weirdest assignment I've had to do in all my time at Flinders - by which I mean it wasn't an essay: the one where we got to practice our cutting and pasting.




How bizarro is that? If that doesn't look like gibberish ... well, want to redo my assignment for me?

I'm Going to Graduation, parentheses, The Graduation Song

Graduation is held in April, for students who finish at the end of the year. There is a second one held for people who finish at the end of semester one. I decided to skip the April one, since I was going to be doing Honours and would get another one (assuming I pass) in April 09.

However, the graduation people just sent me an email which said (slight paraphrase), "It's almost summer! Your thesis will be over (for better or worse) in less than a month! There are some really pretty dresses out now! How bout you graduate in December of this year?"

So I've decided to go to graduation. With a cap and a gown and all of that.

There are three things standing in my way:
~ Thesis: Due October 15th.
~ Editing Project: Due 24th of October.
~ Special Project: Due 7th of November.

And then I'll be FREEEEEEEE!

Uni Quandry

The assessment for my Post-War American Literature is pretty basic: a 1000 word tut paper, and a 2000 word "major" essay. Easy.

Except that we also have to present to the class on one of the books.

Given that
(a) class goes for two hours,
(b) the presentation is not graded, so essentially I'll be planning a two-hour presentation for no marks,
(c) there are only five people in the class, so it'll pretty obvious if I just happen to not show up the week it's my turn to present,
(d) the lecturer already thinks I'm an idiot, and I wouldn't put it past her to let this affect my essay grades
I should just suck it up and do the presentation, right? Or not?

Incidentally, if anyone has a two-hour prepared speech on On The Road and would like to email it to me, that would be awesome.

Why I Should Never Get Twitter

missy: started writing my essay. 81 words!
missy: 329
missy: 618. oh my god.
missy: 1001. i think i'm out of words.
missy: 1633! it's getting there. slowly and painfully.
missy: 2050!
missy: 2486
missy: 2718
missy: 2885 and done. thank the lord.

Just be happy you weren't the one getting these update texts all yesterday. And you can be happy the essay's done. I am officially finished everything uni-related for this semester (or will be when I hand this in tomorrow). Now I can concentrate on watching House (for my thesis!) and finding an America/Australia power adapter.

Oops, I Lied

Typical. I brag about how well I've been doing in the cycling department, and the next day I simultaneously gain a cold and lose the inclination to go out to a freezing cold shed and cycle for any period of time at all. So I've missed two days in a row. I'll make them up.

Speaking of people who lied...

(That was the best segue in the history of lame-arse segues, wasn't it?)

... remember that essay I asked my supervisor to review for me? And she hadn't, at that point?

Well, she got it a week before it's due date. Since then, I've handed it in, procrastinated the hell out of a different essay, written a bunch of blog posts and read a whole heap more, started writing the new essay, and got the original one back. I still haven't heard from my supervisor. This does not worry me particularly; I wasn't really holding my breath waiting for it back. But still:

Dear Supervisor: Not Cool.

But don't worry, I have indeed learned my lesson about getting things done before the night before. So not worth the hassle.

So I got a 75 on the essay. Basically, the lowest grade they could give me and still give me a Distinction. Which is fine. But what if I got a Credit? Supe is lucky I can be just slightly above average without her.

Deadlines

(Ok, I'm going to mention BlogHer once, right now, and then we'll have a totally SF-free post. Deal? Deal.)

I think the reason I was a bit sooky at the end of last week was due to BlogHer. Specifically, all the time and effort I've laid out. And what do I have to show for it? Nothing. A bunch of confirmation emails. I'm just glad the exciting 'Yay BlogHer!' posts elsewhere have kept things more in perspective.

I have been keeping up with the cycling thing. My reward chart now looks like this



which means I'm halfway there. I've discovered that music is essential, that I need a countdown to focus on, and that I get way more excitement out of putting up a new sticker than I should.

I've started reading books again! I used to go through at least two books a week when I was at home, but since uni and tv in my room and cable and dvds on demand from Carla, I just haven't. Plus, my ginormous book collection is home, so don't judge what I'm reading. Down here, I basically have a collection of Books I've Read On The Plane To/From Home. Anyway, books I've read in the last week and a half:



Remember when I was so excited about last days? Well I actually had another one, two weeks ago almost. It wasn't very exciting, because I still had an essay to write, plus this stupid thesis that I'm fairly certain will never be written. (Not totally true.) But yay! I finished first semester of Honours!

I have one more essay to do. And I have procrastinated the hell out of it. Seriously. That pile of books up there? Essay procrastination. My clean bedroom? Essay procrastination. I read and highlighted the readings for Christ's sake. Major procrastination. But it's due Friday, so I'm thinking 1000 words today, tomorrow and Wednesday, and then it'll be done. (See what I mean about needing a number to focus on?)

Oh yeah. One more thing. The topic of the essay. Remember when I was all "Now I never have to hear the word 'postmodern' ever again"? Well. The subject of the essay? Postmodernism. The subject of the whole freaking topic? Postmodernism. The world is just mean sometimes.

Buttons, Parties, and Labels

I have new pretty buttons.

First of all,



and



and I also plan on this one



although shoes do make a suitcase a bit heavy.

There is also that countdown happening over there. If you're looking at the one at the actual BlogHer site and then getting confused, that would be because this one is counting down til I leave. Which is many many hours before I get to San Francisco, which is several days before BlogHer begins. (Now it's not confusing at all.)

Then there is



which is happening on the Thursday before BlogHer.

At the same time, I am supposed to be at the BlogHer Newbie Mixer, but apparently we're allowed to do both? (Why not just have one?)

And the next day, I will be at Ruby Skye, for BlogHer's Friday cocktail party.

Yo, girls: we need to plan some clothes shopping in between the Golden Gate Bridge and the really hilly streets. Seriously.

Moving on, there are now only five blogs at a time over there on the sidebar, and the archives are by year now. It's all so clean and tidy.

And in case you were wondering where all the tags went, I deleted them all. They were annoying me. And, as I'm supposed to be preparing my thesis proposal, deleting labels from 500+ posts seemed like a good idea. They'll be back. (Obviously. I'm still "supposed to be" preparing.)

Study Day

Once again, the internet is proving itself supremely helpful.



No shit, Sherlock. (Oops! Spoiler!)

By the way, I have an awesome routine going. TV, food, read blogs, write an essay, check a random definition, check blogs, check email, finish essay, TV, etc.

Incidentally, isn't it a worry when Hannah Montana is the best thing that cable TV has to offer?

Edited To Add:

10:33pm: Woohoo! I'm done! Four mini-essays written and handed in. I feel very on track over here, how about you?

On Track

I did say I would get on track. And I always intended to. But today it has actually started.

I have been saying all along that "I am not good at uni anymore," which was true but irrelevent. If you're not doing it properly, how about you change what you're doing? (Or not doing in my case.) So I did. I sat down and wrote the first of four mini assignments for one of my classes. Pretty sure there's a major essay but whatever. Ignore it til it goes away. Just kidding!

ANYWAY, my big awesome discovery during that was this: remember the book I didn't read? Yeah, it's still not read. After reading through the questions (always helps!) I found not a single one based on that book. So I subconciously picked the right week to flake out, knowing that I didn't need to read it. Whoo!

(Shut up, Mr Improve Yourself Read The Readings Engage In Discussions.)

Now I am off to do yet more work. Uni work twice in one day! What is the world coming to?

Wah. Am Sick.

On Friday night, I woke up every two hours. Almost to the minute. Turns out if you can't breathe, you can't sleep.

On Saturday, I went shopping. I thought I would be ok, and fair enough I didn't die. However, I had a very "meh, it'll do, no energy to decide" attitude going on, which meant I bought pretty much everything I tried on. On the plus side, they are all hell comfy.

Today, I went to work at 1. As it happens, my shift started at 11. Oops, my bad. I was busy though. Those Sunday morning Friends episodes won't watch themselves.

The bottom line:
1 x Annotated Bibliography done and handed in.
5.5 x discs of House season two watched.
1 x sooky Missy.

Don't leave it all to the last minute

How many times have we all been told that? And I even believe that it's good advice.

But it is Wednesday night, and I am two-thirds of the way through an assignment I just started today. I figure another third when I'm done here, two thirds tomorrow, and hand it in on Friday morning. I'm hoping all that adds up to one awesome assignment.

I am so not happy with the way my Honours year has been going so far. I would love to say it's all going to be great and this will never happen again. But I would be lying to you. And I don't do that. Cos I love you.

But dude, this will happen again. I will be busy lazy all the time. I am just almost kinda caught up, but I will be behind again in about 2.3 seconds.

Next semester will not be any better, I can tell you that right now. I will get back from BlogHer a week or more into semester. Behind, again, some more.

I am not particularly happy with myself about this whole thing.

HOWEVER, this blog is not meant to be all angsty and shit. Exciting post coming up!

Back On Track

Last Friday, shitty day that it was, may have actually been a good thing.

Call it a wake-up call or whatever, I plan to do better from now on. Well, maybe from tomorrow or Thursday on since a certain awesome person has sent me movies and episodes and I will be quite busy for some time.

In aid of all this betterness, I am back to my usual checklisted self.



Isn't it pretty? I feel more in control already. Plus, I have a meeting with Supe, my as yet unmet supervisor, on Monday, which should make the whole thesis thing less vague. So really, it's all going to be ok. I may even cross some things off of that pretty list thing up there. (Shush! No! Don't want to hear it.)

If Only

If my shift hadn't been changed I would have started at 9 instead of 12.
If I'd started at 9, I would have discovered the flat tyre in time to catch a bus or train.
If my shift hadn't been changed from eight hours to five it wouldn't have been forced to be none.
If I had known I would get the day off I would have gone to the basketball.
Grr.

NaBloPoMo1: Randomness ... Better than a blank screen

I think I just discovered why this is hard. It's being asked to perform on command. To have something interesting, funny, amusing to say every single day. Dude, that's hard.

So I scrapped the idea of having anything interesting/funny/amusing to say and decided to go with what I would've posted, had this not been me losing my NaBloPoMo virginity and thus an important occasion that should be full of pomp and circumstance and LOLs or enlightenment instead of what it is: a list.

1. My wall is rapidly getting things crossed off it. It now looks like this:



which, as you can maybe see, means I have only two things left. One is a take-home test which we get after watching a movie on Monday, and the other is a website. So you can see why I am not actually stressing too much in this "stressful" part of semester. Which leads me to...

2. Swotvac. I hate swotvac. Specifically, I hate the 24-hour noise curfew. However, once those two things mentioned above are done, I envision myself either (a) sleeping, (b) eating toast, or (c) at the beach, so hopefully it won't be too annoying for me. (Because it's all about me, and not about the people who maybe have to be studying.)

3. Remember the essay I made into a website because I am a cheater? She was either going to love it or hate it. Well, guess what?



HD. She loves me. (Lucky, cos the one I hate gave me a P, my first for this semester. And I was going so well too with the HDs and the Ds and the couple of Cs. Oh well.)

4. I am still taking questions, and really, it's in your best interests to provide me with some. Let's face it - a whole month of lists? Not so much fun for any of us. Come on, anything. Something you've been wondering about me, something you've written/read about lately, something stupid even. Stupid is good. And hey, how about if I return the favour if you want blog topics this month? Is bribery working? Good.

Where it is clear I am not a student of mathematics. But sometimes I pretend to be,

I handed my last essay in today. My last essay ever.

(It will be all ironic and shit if I have to, like, write a make-up essay because I fail one of tests next week or something. Yeah, let's not do that.)

It was originally a 3000 word one. Then she decided that she didn't want to read that many words so she made it 2500 instead. My total? 2495. Close enough, right? They're practically the exact same number. Except for the 4. And the 9. Oh, shut up. It's done and handed in. Whoo!

We did our Student Evaluations the other day. Mine was very predictable.

What could this lecturer do to be a more effective teacher?
Finish on time. Class finishes at ten to the hour.

Who didn't see that comment coming? Sometimes my lack of originality disgusts even myself.

How about a list?

I wish I had been posting more lately. I wish funny/things were making their way onto my screen. Unfortunately, there are lots and lots of words that have to make their way to the stupid-ass drop box before a certain time, and I would like to blame that for my lack of interesting writing lately.

In the absence of intelligent/humour writing, how about a list? We love lists! Cool, okay, here it is: The Update (that really isn't) List...

- Thank you to all the people all over the interwebs who participated in the Great Mofo Delurk. It really was great seeing people not hiding on blogs all over the place. (My major? English. Why do you ask?)

- I actually only have two more essays to do. (And four tests and a website.) As I keep being reminded, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

- In between all that I have/have had Formal Dinner: Wild West last Friday, Pub Crawl 2 this Friday, and Hall Ball next Saturday.



Drunken Missy at Formal Dinner. Please note the pink cowgirl hat that NO-ONE ELSE had. Also, Hall Ball from last year, in case you forgot.

- For this year's Hall Ball, I decided to wear my Year 12 Graduation Dress, as a nice kind of symmetry, what with this being my (hopefully) last year of uni. I had to get it altered, as it turns out I put on a bit of weight in the past five years. Whoda thought? I had the fitting for it today, and it looks pretty good if I do say so myself.



The dress in 2002. Also, further evidence that I was a skinny bitch back then. Who had no boobs. Ha-ha skinny me!

- House has new fellows! Lots of them! And there're new Heroes! And some other stuff happened, too. The new game plan is that I'm allowed to read the little summaries on the main page, but not the recaps. That's fair enough, right?

- I made a big huge list of things to do in San Francisco, LA, and Vegas. Once I clean it up a bit, it will become its own post. Stay tuned.

- Turns out it is possible to send weather through the mail. We had a lovely 30-degree day. Thanks V2! Also, photo/woodwork/pretty things/you're so jealous of me post coming up.

Basically, nothing else is happening. My days are spent at my computer, which would be very boring if I were not checking blogs every so often when I should be doing my essay. Actually, you guys don't post every minute of the day so it is boring. What's been happening? Most exciting thing that happened to you this week?

The Bitching Continues

Research Essay
3000 words.
This essay will answer a question of your own devising on any aspect of
Australian Social History.

THAT'S IT? That's all you're going to give me?! Write lots of words on anything in the world. Dammit!

No, we do not want freedom to pursue our own areas of interest. We want a nicely constructed essay question where it is clear that there are main points that need to be mentioned in order to get a decent grade.

I DO NOT DO WELL WITH THE VAGUE.

A topic. Please. Somebody, anybody, give me a topic.

I have to think to come up with one, so no, you do not get a title

Blarrghhhhhhhhh. My brain has turned to a blobby mess of melted down ... something. (Ooh! Chocolate ice-cream! No! Stay on task!) Do not expect coherency. You are in the wrong place for logicality and also words that belong in the English language. That's not how we roll.

The two English essays due today? Done and handed in and crossed off my wall.

The Crime Fiction one had way too many quotes and way too few original thoughts (see above, where a title usually resides) but he gave me a 90 last time. (Don't you like how many times in the past week or so I have managed to work that 90 into posts about things entirely unrelated?)

The Web Publishing one. Hmm. Instead of a proper essay with footnotes and research from books and whatnot, I ... made a webpage. Not a fancy one or anything, just so that I could include ten bajillion links to blogs and newspaper sites (which coincidentally, are what the essay was supposed to be about) and journal articles (which they like if you look at sometimes).

They are either going to see this as completely brilliant or a total and utter gimmicky cop-out of actually writing an essay. I am seriously hoping it's the former.

Either way, the essays have disappeared into the assy drop-box and taken all of my brain cells with them. Which is fine, because me and my cowgirl hat don't need them for tonight anyway.

FORMAL DINNER TONIGHT + NEVERENDING ESSAY FINISHED = VERY DRUNK MISSY.