Not only does he win all of america tacos

But he also kicks some serious ass. Four hits (three doubles) tonight, and that is only through the 8th. I am on tivo delay b/c I hate commercials. Damn Jacoby...You rock.

I don't know how i became a red sox fan...well actually Sir GB is a huge fan, so I was forced to watch them. But I have discovered that I am a natural baseball fan...why you might ask....because it is all about random knowledge. But Sir GB is in England for his nephew's christening, so I am forced to share my random baseball facts with Tiger. She was delighted to learn that Jason Varitek is one of two people to play in the little league world series, the college world series and the MLB world series....I know fascinating. But when you have a mind for random facts...well this is an awesome game.

By the way. I don't know how anyone on the east coast can stay up to watch this. Tiger is already in bed.

Jacoby won us all free tacos!!!!!

It is no secret that I have a little crush on Jacoby Ellsbury, but he is now the great TACO PROVIDER. He stole a base tonight, now we are all entitled to a free taco at taco bell on 10/30 from 2-5 pm.

When Kitties Want to Wake up.

Yup...this is kind of like Tiger, but the ending is a bit different...she just bites

Two Degrees from Big Papi!

Mother of B.I.L. met one of my favorite baseball players....Big Papi. He is so damn cool...look at his ice! We have a Papi grumarumi at the house, and he is a very happy. This also now puts me in three degrees from Manny, and I love Manny.

GERBIL-MANIA

sometimes I wish there was gerbil-mania, especially on the job market...so far I've sent out 27 applications....I am a wee bit addicted to my phone and email in case someone would like to contact me....

But there is some mania in the family BIL mania..... what a rockstar....

The life of Post-Doctoral Gerbil

I think you know you spend too much time in your office alone when you think you hear the tardis and are very excited that the Doctor might be visiting....I do hope it is that version of the doctor, not one of the old ugly ones.

Yup that is my morning reaction...maybe I need more coffee or more sleep or maybe both....

Life has devolved into much administration and running of social science programs that are without directors at the moment...for a week or so I was the interim director of MAPSS. I was/am the interim diversity coordinator for graduate studies in social sciences (they don't actually let me see anyone--then they would know I was white and the gig would be up). I am running a search for a Survey specialist....oh and doing my same old same old running the lab. And let's not forget the most important part...trying to get a job.....Needless to say I am a bit busy...so the idea of running off on the tardis, not so bad....

Winning = Awesome

My brother-in-law, who is a gerbil by marriage is a chess expert (I will use the correct terminology---I wondered about that). I don't know what all of it means...but....winning = awesome.

On another gerbil chess related story, did you know that there is a chess program called gerbil....
Clearly everything is coming together....this explains BIL's love of chess and gerbils..it is all inter-related...

Gerbils in Space

No, I haven't joined NASA (although they have a branch just down the street)....but the Russians have sent 10 gerbils into space


By the way, who knew Link Hogthrob was so tall.....

things heard recently at the gerbil/bear/tigercat household

Yes, we are big dorks at our house, well except for tiger cat....she is too cool for the rest of us. So I thought I would give you a sense of the conversations around here....be prepared, you may not necessarily understand all or any of this....

EXTERMINATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gerbil: If we got a tardis, appa could live in it.
Bear: We would have to address the door issue...unclear if the door actually could expand

What do you think the symbolic interactionists and the existentialists think about each other (I'll spare you the on-going conversation beyond this)....

Along similar lines....I wonder what would have happened if Lenin had lived (and actually I wasn't the one who said this)...

No whorebuckets allowed

Where do you think I could get a sonic screwdriver?

So, in case you can't guess the hidden themes....I have a new favorite show (Dr. Who--I prefer the new versions) and I am writing a ton of applications for jobs to teach theory...The whore buckets that is a totally a random phrase I used to describe the broncos field goal kicker, who really just ruined my sunday...

St Lucia pics

Click here to see an abbreviated album, only 57, not 360...

Despite the hurricane, we had a delightful time, it was really nice to have a break, I don't think I realized how much I needed it.

Hurricane Dean you bastard

So we have survived most of Hurricane Dean. We re on the tail end of it. We are in St Lucia. We went for a walk today during the calm, but then it started right back up again. I got some great pictures. The damage isn't too bad where we are. We have power, and internet, just no cable or phone. Obviously things could be much worse. So for those of you who were worried, we are a okay and our hotel is making sure we get fed and have water and what not. Obviously if you come to St Lucia, you can stay here and not worry about being taken care of!

Welcome to St. Lucia

Well...so far so good...but....Hurricane Dean is on its way...should be here tomorrow, so we are trying to enjoy today to the fullest.....I will keep you all posted.

New York was good, but I am glad it is done...I am sick of schmoozing

Let's go Buffalo, or "You make me wanna Shout"

What you may not know, is that the Gerbil was born in Buffalo (many moons ago) and as a Buffalo native you get imprinted with this bizarre love affair with sports teams that always break your heart. My first experience...you guessed it the Buffalo Bills....They ripped our hearts out with a wide right all those years ago (I think that phrase might be banned in Buffalo), and then continued to do so for a few more years. Today, I was reading Deadspin (if you don't read it, you should, because espn wants to suck out your soul) and they had a fabulous preview of the Bills' upcoming season. It epitomizes what like is life for a Buffalo fan. His opening line about when people say "sorry" when you tell them you are a Bills fan--it happened to me in the middle of nowhere England, a land that hates American football...even they know how bad it is to be a Bills fan. Now, being a west coast Gerbil, I don't get many Bills games, but I track them on the web, and every time I get a little bit excited, they seem to self distruct.....Ah, the Joys of Being a Buffalonian (I think I made that up).

By the way, I still love Marv Levy!

How do I know I am a grown up academic

....because I am busier than ever. I have articles to review (this is a first), papers to write, courses to design, students to help...oh and I have to find a job for fall of 2008. At least I haven't been rejected from anywhere yet. But there is still plenty of time for that. So to entertain you all for the day, I am posting a picture of gerbils in motion (ok...it isn't a gerbil, but a guinea pig...close enough)

Trumpet Fanfare...May I introduce Dr. Gerbil the younger

Yup! Today I filed and I have a piece of paper announcing that I am a Ph.D.! Sure you might remembered I walked last year. But that was partly because the Drs Gerbil, the elders were in CA for the event... Being non-flying Gerbils, they had to take a road trip. In the course of evolution, I became a flying Gerbil (as are all of the Gerbil kids).

In a few years we'll have the next Dr. Gerbil....

Where have I been

Many of you have been wondering about this....well...I have been locked in an office finishing my dissertation. It is all done...I just need to find my committee members and make them sign the papers they have agreed to sign and turn it in to the registrar!!!!!!!!

So hopefully, now I can devote more time to random blogging.... but to give you a brief update on life....

Just saw DD (C) last night along with her family...which is always a delightful experience

I am now obsessed with the English Premier League....Sir GB pulls for Man U and I cheer for Liverpool (I LOVE GERRARD) and Chelsea (also a big John Terry fan).

We are headed off to St. Lucia in mid august, as a post dissertation experience.....

And I am eagerly awaiting my new Harry Potter book which will be delivered tomorrow morning.

Oh...and I think Tiger has a boyfriend....he is big, fluffy and orange...so I named him Crookshanks...he is the only cat she tolerates...so I figure they are going out...thank goodness she is fixed....I don't think I could handle kittens....

Happy Birthday Big Sis!

I hope you are enjoying your birthday!

This puppy seems to be enjoying it!

Mr Lee the cat

Yes, I am working on becoming a crazy cat lady....although right now we only have one...although I keep trying to steal this delightful orange cat who I call crookshanks (yeah i am a dork).....I keep thinking it would be so awesome to see what Tiger does during the day. Well this guy in Germany found out...his cat...Mr. Lee has a camera that is programmed to take pictures at different times during the day and the we get to see what Mr. Lee is up to....it is sweet

I recommend checking it out...

In the mean time....back to work for me....

Yup, I've been HIDING

So, yes, I have been missing quite a bit lately....but I am been trying to finish the bitch that is my dissertation. The next to final version went to my advisor on tuesday...So I am getting ready for my next vacation, to the beach house...

But in other news, I had this dream awhile ago and I got two dogs, Skwiggles and Aloysius....so I found a picture of what skwiggle looked like in my dream....apparently he was a cockapoo....I am still looking for Aloysius.....

New rankings of graduate departments

based on crabbiness of the professors....well someone suggested this somewhat jokingly....but actually this piece brings up quite a few good points. I mean if I had known what I know now, I may have chosen differently in many respects. I don't mean to imply my advisor is crabby, she isn't, she is actually one of the least crabby and loveliest people in my department or even the university. But she is way too overstretched, and there just aren't the faculty to really handle the number of students we have in the right way. So would I have done something differently academically --yup, I probably would have gone to cornell if I knew then what I know now....but instead I ended up with a fabulous boyfriend and a pretty ridiculous cat.....so life isn't that bad

Dornbusch Award in Social Psychology

Yup, I am the winner. It is just a departmental award, but it is nice to be recognized. I will miss the ceremony b/c I'll be on the beach...which is where I would rather be.....but Kyra will pick it up for me...since we are twins, no one will know the difference :)


Ok...back to my dissertation revisions.

Once these revisions get off to the copy editor I'll have more time to post.

Little Miss Sunshine

I have to say, this is the best movie I have seen in a long time. If you haven't seen it go, please rent it, or netflix it or how ever you watch movies get it.

Ok so you may ask Gerbil, why did you like this, you hate everything....

well, this has some of the most interesting characters I have seen in long time...I am particularly fond of Dwayne, Frank and Grandpa.

I guess for me Dwayne and Frank are pretty close to home....Dwayne reminds me a bit of a high school Gerbil...all I wanted to do was get the hell out. Frank is what I could be in 10-15 year, but instead of a Proust scholar I'll be a trust scholar....but the pettiness of academia and what it can drive you to is only too apparent if you hang around too long without appropriate balancing mechanisms (like Sir GB).

But I also have to say, I enjoy the statement it makes about children's beauty pagents. Olive is the only kid that actually looks like a kid, not a shrunken barbie doll. I won't ruin the movie for those who haven't seen it. But she is the only one with integrity.

It isn't often I moved to write here about a movie or anything I have seen, so I think that should be good enough for some of you to check this movie out.

Picturs from Kauai

We are back...and it was fantastic.

If you want to see them, click here

Here are a few highlights!

if you haven't been, you should go...

Aloha

So far so good....sure we have coral cuts and blisters, but we are having a fabulous time. We have had 4 honu (green sea turtle sightings) many awesome fish sightings, as well as a fred willard sighting at LAX. We were supposed to go on a helicopter adventure yesterday, but it got postponed due to weather...So we will go tomorrow. Today we went on a kayak adventure....and yes I paddled, and didn't even put my feetin the water the entire time. The kayak trip was up to a waterfall....it was so totally cool...we are having a fabulous time!

Animals in Need

So I was reading one of my favorite blogs stuff on my cat, and I read about this horrible fire at the jacksonville, fl human society. All but two of the puppies made it, but most of the kitties didn't. You can read about it here and make a donation if you would like.

you may wonder where i have been lately

well here is the answer....Tiger and I have been asleep....

Actually we have been working our butts off...well Sir GB and I have...Tiger has been busy playing.

But we are headed to Kauai on sunday. In the mean time we see the A's and the Yankees tomorrow, and then spend all day saturday getting ready....

Need help procrastinating...

Ok...sure I did the dishes, watered the plants, organized my bathroom cupboards...but then I found this....a flickr stream of famous basketball players with random people

In honor of my favorite holiday...please enjoy this break before the madness starts tomorrow morning. I'll be holding holiday festivities at home with tiger with some visits from the regular crowd.

Oh, some of the highlights of the flickr stream...the chrish duhon lapdance and cherokee parks...you kind of wondered what happened to him didn't you. Oh the comedy....I remember when we were in school...he was a poser then too.

New Sports Blog that I love

Ok....maybe it wouldn't be to everyone's liking...but Ladies... is the kind of sports blog I would have if I had a bunch of my ladies friends help me out. For example I have been loving their panty raid feature, which gives you the lowdown (not the down low) on each conference tourney, but also picks an all-hottie team. Now this is the kind of information I like. Quality analysis of the teams, and someone spent the time looking at all of the rosters to see who was hot.....this will save me so much time as I am watching games/writing my dissertation....It all makes sense my friends. So check it out. And if you get bored of that and want to dress up your favorite athletes or celebrities go to stardoll I had fun with tom brady...but who hasn't...he is a ho.

The most wonderful time of the year

For some people it is the winter holidays....for me...it is march basketball. I havve fully gotten into the spirit by watching some little conference tourney games, and the ACC women's tourney. Yeah, I have a dissertation to write....I'm working on it as I watch games.

Congrats to Penn being teh first team to make it to the big dance. Yup for them it is just nice to be invited....the poor ivy league...they just never make it that far. We'll see who else gets invited today as a few automatic bids are determined. For some reason I am tranfixed by the VMI vs Winthrop game. I am pulling for Winthrop.

Marcus Matthew

So we have confirmation that this is the name of Sir GB's nephew....and we finally got a picture!

I'm in love

no, i haven't dumped sir gb, but i have found a puppy so damn cute I don't know what to do. Check him/her out....given my previous dog named spike (who was a girl) I won't make gender assumptions....hmmm...what will it take to make sir gb and tiger agree this would be a good idea.

Puppy Bowl vs the Super Bowl

I was pretty into the puppy bowl....the cutest golden puppy ever, named jackson....

but then I changed to cbs as Tiger was getting kind of jealous of all of the puppies (but I told her we would watch the kitty bowl at half time) I saw a former classmate of mine is one of the captains of the bears...Pat Mannelly he is the long snapper

all i'll say so far is the colts look like crap. the bears returned the kickoff for a td, and then intercepted payton. i might go back to the puppies if this game doesn't get more competitive, but rex hasn't been oout on the field to mess it up for the bears yet.

Sir GB rocks

So some of you know I have been kind of down about this job search thing. I have gotten more sleep in the past few weeks than I have in a long time. But to cheer me up, Sir GB is taking me to Kauai in April. Yup that is Hawaii.

If you want to find out some information you can click here

So now I have something to look forward to...and maybe this will help our gym routine...got to get in shape for the beach!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARISA

Here is a little crazy pup also celebrating his birthday!

Hope you have a great day!

Sir GB is now Uncle GB

those of you who have been keeping track of my infrequent posts may know that Sir GB's nephew is a bit early. Actually he is really early. Poor little Marcus (Sir GB thinks that is his name) weighs 3 lbs and will be in the hospital for awhile. That is all I know right now. So keep this little gu n your thoughts and hope he gets bigger soon!

Who would believe a scuba diving cat

Well apparently it is true....check it out here

Pictures are up

Click here

I think you all will enjoy them!

We are back!

So we have returned!

I am in the midst of uploading over 300 pictures, which I will post links to once they are all uploaded.

I have to say I had a wonderful time! But just a few quick notes, as I mentioned before--Paris is the city of stairs...but as I discovered, do not go to England without your wellies (aka rubber boots), I love it there, but it is a wee bit rainy and muddy and if you want to save your pants and your shoes, get some wellies, I will have a pair for my return voyage some day. Also much to my consternation, England does not have street signs, yes they have speed limit and stop signs, but hardly any of the streets are marked...let's just say this causes some confusion

Now Madrid on the other hand was not wet or muddy and in fact has lovely street signs, all hand painted tiles, that are really lovely, but it is a hot bed of mullets. I haven't seen so many mullets since I don't know when...strange.....

Upon our arrival home yesterday we discovered that Sir GB is going to be uncle GB, of course we had christmas dinner with his brother and sister in law, and no mention....but c'est la vie. So he will be an uncle in April.

Nothing else really exciting to report...but I'll be posting photos soon...it takes a long time to upload 300 pictures....and never fear some of your favorite (ok...my favorite) areas of my photography will be there....there are sheep, birds, plants (but not so many ferns), but you will also find gargoyles (I love them and I got to see them up close at the top of Notre Dame), and lots of architecture (I am also a big fan).....

by the way! Happy New Year!

Greetings from Merry Old England

So we have been in England since Christmas Eve, but I haven't had email until now at Sir GB's dad's house. We have been having a grand time, but the weather is in fact horrible. The sun was out for a whopping 25 minutes today, and then of course it began to rain....poop on that. We went to Cambridge yesterday, and have also been to York, and visited some wonderful towns with names like cockermouth (yeah, it makes me giggle too), then at one intersection...one way was giggleswick and the other was wigglesworth, so I have named my sheep souviner Sir Giggleswick Wigglesworth the third duke of Cumberland. Yes he is a very pretentious sheep.

We are having fun and enjoying staying with the various parts of Sir GB's clan...who are of course all very nice. So if I don't catch up with you before then....happy new year. We are off to Madrid on Tuesday and there for a few days.....so we'll see what I can do on posting there....

huggles and happy new years!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Some people call Paris the city of lights, I personally view it as the city of stairs. I do not know the last time I climbed this many stairs. But we have been to many fabulous museums in the past few days, the museum d orssey, the centre pampideu, the picasso museum, and today the louvre (before heading to england). We also went to the catacombs, which I thought were really cool, but Sir GB said they gave him bad dreams. What can I say, aside from the overwhelming number of stairs, Paris is a fabulous city that I would gladly return to any day. We are off today to Otley England, home to Sir GBs mom for christmas, and she does not have interwebs, I know how can this be, so I will wish those of you out there that celebrate christmas a happy one, and I will be back in touch when we reach Sir GBs dads house where there are interwebs.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

We are in Paris

We are having a lovely time in Paris! Sir GB and I have been to Sacre Couer; Eiffel Tower; Notre Dame (we climbed to the top and saw gargoyles up close); then the pantheon and the latin quarter. We have had great food and lots of wine!

A-team is headed to europe

So Sir Grizzly Bear and I take off for Europe on tuesday morning....such adventures we will have...I think we might do the catacomb tour of Paris. I will go searching for sheep in Yorkshire, and in Madrid I will try to avoid pig. So be expecting many photos when we return, most likely no ferns this time, as I have been informed they are in low supply where we will be. Lame, but I guess I will survive as long as there will be some sheep.

Other goings on in Wellseley

Joss had her first moo juice...which she enjoys!
And I saw the inflatable house...this place had a ton of crazy inflatable ornaments I have never seen....crazy

Daisy and Me!

Meet my new canine best friend Daisy....she is such a sweetie....she is well loved by everyone she knows.....even her "sister" Joss, well, except for when Joss has food.

Me and Joss

Here we are, two cuties. I had much fun hanging out with my niece. She is very delightful, especially if you sleep with earplugs. I'll put up more pics soon....including me with my new best friend Daisy, and the inflatable house....very scary that place...who knew you could get so many enormous inflatable christmas ornaments.

who is the MVP of Joss' birthday

You guessed it....ME! I came back from burns on four of my five fingers on my right hand! And a sliced left thumb....Yup back from the injured reserve or the disabled list (choose your preference) to save the day! And I helped with play group today! So if you want to see pictures of the party click here

But here are some highlights!

The Fear of Santa

Some of you may know that when I was a wee little gerbil I was terrified of people with facial hair (I am still pretty scared of women with facial hair) this included Santa. So I was delighted to discover this site with all sorts of kids terrified of santa...see it isn't just me!

Our Disco Christmas Tree with Nicholas the Sock Monkey

Seeing since we aren't really Christian, and celebrate Christmas as a holiday to celebrate family and friends, we have a slightly different take on the Christmas tree. Yes, our tree is silver and yes it has fiberoptics built in. Oh and you are correct there is a sock monkey on top of it, his name is Nicholas. He keeps a watchful eye on all of the presents and lets me know when Sir Grizzly Bear has been snooping around looking for them.

Turkey Day

We had a great one! We had a great one, with fantastic food and friends. A couple people said it was the best thanksgiving ever. What a compliment. Here are some photos...courtesy of Ness

Finally some good news

So I haven't written about my academic world a lot lately, mostly well because I think I have been sucked into teaching so much that I haven't thought that much about it.

But finally some good news: I made the long short list at Oxford. You may wonder, what the hell does that mean? Well it means they are considering me based on my application and have requested more materials. If I make the short short list (yes, these things exist, and that is what they are called) I give at talk at Oxford in early February. It is actually an awesome job. It is in Nuffield College, which is a graduate college at Oxford specializing in social sciences. It is kind of a sweet position, 3 years including, salary, room and board, although you do have to dress for dinner every day. I suppose this could be handled.

On the never ending dissertation front: I am supposed to finish a new draft by the time I leave for Europe. Three chapters are done, a fourth is almost finished, and I have the entire week off from school, so I should be able to bust a few out. Of course two of the unfinished chapters are the introduction and the conclusion. I would love to have this working draft done, and go to Europe without it hanging over my head, and then Karen can read it. Hopefully she won't keep it hostage for 5 month this time.....hmmmmmm.....

Naughty bonobo

I have to say this little girl is pretty damn smart....reminds me of me as a kid....although I just set fires and didn't pull alarms....but pretty good stuff.....

got to love those primates!

Adventures at the sleep clinic

So the good news is I most likely only have a mild sleep apnea, and most likely have massive anxiety. Only in my world is this good news. But I get the official word next tuesday...so we'll see.

I just want to sleep....is that so much to ask?

Happy Birthday Sir GB

Sir GB is having a birthday today. He couldn't wait, so we opened presents at breakfast. He seems to have liked everything. He especially liked his little crocheted kitty I made him named Truffles. I think he kind of looks like Tiger Cat. Look for truffles soon on the gerbilknits page.

Let's hope Sir GB enjoys his bithday party.

I'll tell you the lasagna smells really good.

getting ready for the sir gb birthday

so tomorrow sir gb turns 40...yup, so now he can stop talking rubbish about us being in the same decade.....

We are having a little party for him, 10 or 12 people, or something like that. I have decided to make an italian feast....b/c well, hell i wanted to.

so if you know sir gb wish him a happy birthday tomorrow. I am sure he will appreciate it.

7.5 days until Andrew's birthday

His presents are all bought, and his card....even his card from Tiger cat. Now I just have to finish planning the birthday party....all i have so far is dessert, which he requested....cheesecake. which given my love for the cheesecake is fine with me. I am thinking of an italian feast, which will appease all of the meat eaters and the vegetarians. thank god we don't know any vegans or we would be in serious trouble. Oh if you actually know andrew and want to send him something, he got an ipod from his dad, so itunes gift certificates would be good, or he always enjoys tea and dark chocolate.

Lack of sleep

So, I had a big discussion with my allergist about my inability to sleep. So I am headed off to the sleep clinic in the next month or so.....hopefully it will make it so I can sleep through the night. Apparently it isn't normally to only sleep 4 hours a day for 2 months....who knew!

Happy Halloween

Um...I personally think this is the cutest trick or treater ever....but I am biased towards little Joss

Sleep is not my friend

Apparently sleep has friends broken up with me. I have been getting up at the crack of the middle of the night lately and not falling back to sleep. On Monday i was at 4, today it was 2:30ish. Yeah...not my best moments. My guess is that it is probably stress. The job market sucks....this is the most stressful experience I have had in a while. All I can do is wait. In the mean time:

• I am just writing a job talk for a non-existent talk
• Teaching two courses
• Co-authoring several papers
• Crafting...crafting...crafting (check out my craft blog for more details)
• Contemplating putting Tiger in a halloween costume (note this is not Tiger in a costume, just looks like her)
• Realizing that I will have to actually finish my dissertation at some point
• Just really wanting to be on vacation
  

Happy Birthday

So there are two birthdays that I know of today! My mom and my friend Lisa. So if you see either one wish them a happy birthday, or at least a little happy birthday critter....yeah he is sweet!

Haere rā Tahu

so my buddy tahu successfully defended her proposal on monday and tomorrow she is headed back to NZ until March. Sure, she'll be happy with Tez, but she will be missed dearly in Palo Alto.

Now the department only has my symbolic maori-ness to keep it under control....hmmm....we are in for some trouble....i can see it....but I'll wear my maoriland t-shirt...just so people aren't confused :)

We'll miss you T!

The Joss has spoken....

And she said "Hi", I got a phone call today, and who was talking to me, Joss...yup she said her first word and it was Hi....good she is a friendly one, not like her aunty alex, who first said me.

Congrats Joss, soon there will be many more words, but i'll try not to teach you any bad ones....but you know it might happen....

It must be fall

How do I know.....it has started to rain in northern california...which means fall, it becomes winter when it is under 50 degrees during the day......

But they are good days, b/c here is no desire to go outside, so we get a lot done....but the infamous Tiger is outside....so she'll be nasty when she comes home...

You may wonder where i have been....

Well...I've been working my ass off. The quarter started this week....I am co-teaching two courses, getting my job applications off, co-authoring a chapter, working on our experiments from the NSF grant, oh and watching the cat....since last time Sir GB went out of town Tiger kept escaping and not coming home, I have kept her inside...which is quite a task....but we have done much playing and snuggling....so all is well...but she'll be happy when her food guy returns tomorrow from Boston, so she can go and frolick!

My Beebo has a booboo

So two weeks ago I was making a lovely dinner of linguini with mussels and white wine sauce....when draining the pasta, it splashed up and burned my beebo (if you don't know what a beebo is....well...that is your loss, you can try to get it out of the lovely jocelyn, but she doesn't talk)....Well...so I was in much pain and had a bandage beebo, which sir gb was nice enough to go get me gauze and burn cream for....so I was all injured and whatnot...so I go to my friend Lisa's yoga class....she asks does anyone have any injuries or problems....I just look at her, hold my beebo, and mouthed....my beebo....well...I interrupted yoga while Lisa laughed hysterically....so be careful and don't injure your beebo

A Funny Thing Happened in Gold Country

So we were in gold country this weekend....which was lovely, but the funniest thing was...

there was a sign for a motel, and then i saw this sign that said....

"Having an Affair....Have it Here"

Well, I was flaberghasted...I mean really that isn't the sort of thing you advertise.....then I realized that the sign wasn't on the motel, but rather on the elk's lodge.....pure comedy!

A funny thing happened while watching football

well...first the bills are beating the pats at half time...that almost never happens

but more interesting, i had just awoken from my first half napping (yup I love the fall), when all of a sudden I hear my alma mater mentioned...no not stanford, not duke...those would make sense....no, the bane of my teenage years....lewiston porter high school....not usually a name you hear, well ever. But apparently they retired Daryll Johnston's number, and he was announcing the game. Yup...he is the most famous alumnus of my high school....sad, but true.

I love the Roomba

so we celebrated labor day by letting a robot do the vacuuming...

what a cute little guy robbie the roomba is...and a very effective little cleaner too....he would save a lot of time if we weren't fascinated by watching him....Sir GB followed him into every room, and watched robbie's every little move....

unfortunately tiger was out and about and missed the fun...so clearly we need to use robbie more often so tiger cat can get used to him....it could be hysterical.....i'll keep you posted!

what a wonderful birthday!

I had a wonderful birthday weekend.

Saturday, I went to the spa with truth, and then we got my interview suit, which is saucy, and i got it on the cheap....YIPEEE!!!!!

Then I had a lovely surprise party.....that truth and sir gb planned, and the lovely lynny made many, many monkey decorations, which are fabulous and in fact still up in our apartment.

Sunday sir gb and i went to my favorite burger joint, clarke's for an excellent burger and then spent the rest of the day watching silly movies, it was fabulous.

Then on the actual big day.....i went and had lunch with some of my lovely ladies.....got some sweet shoes for my suit, and then....came home, did a little work, had champers and opened pressies.....Let's just say I have an awesome group of people, including my family and friends that got me some really cool stuff.....these included really cool books (including this awesome book on knitting animales....they are so awesome!), but one of the coolest things....well...yes i know i am a gadget freak and it isn't romantic at all....but sir gb got me a roomba......now I am the proud owner of a robot!!!!!!!! It is awesome...

Now Tiger just really enjoyed the box the Roomba came in....she played in at all last night....

Tonight we are headed to the A's vs Red Sox match....hopefully the Sox will pull their shit together....I am sick of watching them suck!

Apology

Apparently some of my readers do not find nut kicking or rochambeaux funny. I can understand how that is a delicate area (As a sociologist I would be remiss not to mention there appears to be a gender effect). So for all of you who don't find rochambeaux or nut kicking, mea maxima culpa

My run ins with america's funniest home videos

So I haven't paid any attention to this show in about 20 years....but I have had 2 america's funniest home videos moments in the past two days....this is way more often than i would like to have happy.

But yesterday, truth and i were in the grocery, and we saw a dad and his like 10 year old kid play fighting....and in the reversal from traditional home video footage, the dad came close to kicking his sun in the nuts about 6 times.....finally to end the battle the dad gave him a titty twister...i mean who does this with their kids...it is totally fucked up.

then today i read this interesting piece on slate about how you tube has transformed our viewing of these sorts of videos, and we are now watching people get hit in the nuts alone on our computers, rather than as a happy family or group....Robert Putnum, why couldn't you have used this example instead of bowling....i mean rochambeaux is much more interesting than bowling...nut kicking.....always funny!

Cows with Accents

I mean who knew (apparently these people)....I thought only animated cows had accents....but apparently it is true.

I wonder if Tiger cat has a british meow from growing up with Sir GB? hmmmmm....must investigate!

My 200th post!!!!!

Nothing too exciting to report....I am stil in the dark about my birthday party, but I am excited about my trip to the spa for my theraputic mud wrap.

It will be a nice break, as I haave ben working my ass off since I got back from Montrel, and probably will be doing so until I go on vacation in december.

But hopefully there will a big payoff for all of the work....time will only tell.....until then i'll wonder when this birthday extravaganza will occur.....

it's coming soon....

yes, soon i will be 30...well next monday the 28th......all i know is there is a party....sometime, somewhere....the rest is a mystery....which is always intriguing...

so what am i doing to get ready....getting job applications ready....hence there is now an academic website, knitting and crafting up a storm...also preparing my self for job talk shopping....sir gb is buying me a suit for my birthday, which is a pretty sweet gift....but i am starting to need adult like clothes to go to work, I am co-teaching with karen this fall, so I have to keep up....

but in the mean time....we have got an early birthday greeting to my brother-in-law, greg, and a happy anniversary to my parents on the 28th (yes, the same day as my birthday, but 5 years earlier---they aren't shady.....although that would make for even more ridiculous family stories).

New pictures

So, I thought I would give you all some exciting photos....here are the last ones fom the beach

And here are some of montreal....i loved the biodome and the botanical gardens..so yes, many plants and animals!!!!

ASA is done

So I gave my presentation this morning. It went well, of course I ran out of time, as one does. But it went over fairly well. Things I have learned....reading from a script....not my style....I do much better with bullet points and going with the flow....but that is just me....but things are all well in the world...I made many useful contacts for getting a job, and now we get to play in montreal for almost two full days!

Yippeeee!!!!!

B/c when i get back it is time to put the nose to the grindstone and get to work!

Montreal Update

It is a slow day here in presentation land. I don't have to go to a session until 12:30 and even then it is optional. Although I definitely have to put in an appearance at the Cooley Mead address this afternoon. The winner this year is Lynn Smith Lovin. While my research is in no way connected to hers, she is just one of the nicest sociologists around, so of course I will attend. My ulterior motive.....networking. I am on the job market, and it is important to be seen. But that is going well...so not too much stress, but why mess it up know.

But talk 1 went well. talk 2 is tomorrow morning at 8:30....I have been practicing with sir gb...so it should be fine.

But montreal is a beautiful city, if you haven't been, get your butt up here, it is wonderful.

Greetings from Montreal!

I am hanging in Montreal for the American Sociological Association Meetings....So far it is a lovely city. Pretty low key, easily walkable...and good food. All things I like in a city. The hotel is lovely.

I have my first presentation today, and then my second on monday morning. The time change is kind of a pain in the ass, and this is precisely why i am making a pot of coffee.....

Just thought I would update you with my whereabouts......

Wish me luck

My First Nobel Laureate

Yesterday at UC Berkeley visiting Coye, talking about our NSF project, we went to see the Xlab....who do we run into...but George Akerlof....nobel laureate. If you aren't familiar with his work, he is most famous for the market for lemons. Of course...all sorts of horrible things went through my head....luckily i didn't say any of them.....they include such winners as:
so how did you fair in the lemon market
would you like some lemonade
how about those lemons

But was most interesting, was that when he met Karen he said, "I know who you are, I cite you all of the time." Karen was kind of excited, she says she never knows who might now

CAT TOWN

This shit is ridiculous....if Tiger would just let me put clothes on her, I would have my own cat town.....