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Thursday, February 23, 2006

 

keen

Keen Footwear - Women's Bronx

I saw these shoes at a store in Portland last week - so cute!

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

 

I'm number two!

I just got a call from the nursing program... and I am the second person on the alternate list for spring quarter!!! The administrator told me that obviously there are no guarantees, but it is not uncommon for two or more accepted students to drop out. So, I'll be going to the orientation meeting the first week in March so I would be ready to roll if I get the call.

I am so excited, I am just beside myself!

Sunday, February 12, 2006

 

book report: Bellwether

Bellwether
by Connie Willis

Bellwether is a look at how fads and those who follow them shape the fabric of society. Sandra is a scientist who studies fads for the HiTek corporation, where she is tormented by the incompetence of the mail clerk, Flip. Flip is a walking billboard for the current fad, whether it's her hairstyle, hair color, or a tragic fashion-victim outfit. Flip misdelivers a package to Sandra that is supposed to go to Bennett, a chaos theory researcher. Sandra and Bennett end up working together on the idea of predicting fads using chaos theory, with a flock of sheep as their guinea pigs.

This is in no way a deep or profound book, but it is a fun read and is filled with factoids about past fads. It also pokes fun at modern corporate culture, through the ridiculous mandatory company meetings at HiTek. Very entertaining. And the term "bellwether"? It refers to the leader of a flock of sheep - the one who guides the other sheep in a nearly subliminal way.

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Friday, February 10, 2006

 

confused

So I went to meet with the advisor at school regarding my rejection letter and how they counted my various classes... and I won't bore you with the precise details, but suffice to say that she gave me enough information that I could redo my application for fall quarter and be a shoo-in. I think.

However, the advisor called me a couple of hours later to say that she took it upon herself to talk to the nursing program director, and that they agreed that I should be awarded credit for some classes they hadn't previously credited... so I *think* I may be in the alternate pool for spring quarter. She wouldn't promise that over the phone, and said to watch for a letter in the next few days informing me of the official outcome.

So basically, I am more confused now than I was before!

Thursday, February 09, 2006

 

ShirtsOfBamboo

Shirts Of Bamboo

Wow, these look really neat. Not that I have a lot of spare cash to buy shirts right now.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

 

signs of spring



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Sunday, February 05, 2006

 

book report: Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go
by Kazuo Ishiguro

I picked this book from the list of Booker Prize nominees. I've never read anything by Ishiguro before, but I know he's held up as one of the best writers of our times... although honestly the only book I recognize that he wrote is "The Remains of the Day".

The book opens as a narrative by a youngish woman, Kathy. She is apparently an alumna from a private school called Hailsham, and is currently working in some kind of health care capacity. I'm not going to reveal the secret about the students, but it is clear from the beginning of the book that there is something special about Hailsham students. Kathy's narrative swings back and forth between reminiscing about her school days, and describing the work she does as an adult. She has particularly sharp memories of two childhood friends, Ruth and Tommy - but gradually she reveals that Ruth is now dead and Tommy is in the hospital.

The first two-thirds of the book was exciting, as I tried to figure out the secret of the Hailsham students, and piece together what Kathy was doing as an adult. However, near the end of the book, the story took a vaguely ridiculous turn, where a character from Hailsham is put in the role of explaining everything to Kathy and Tommy, and by extension to the reader. I found this device disappointing, since the excitement of the first part of the book was in trying to see through Kathy's eyes and figure out what she was missing about her own situation.

Ishiguro's writing is crystalline and spare. And the concept of the novel is a creative and topical one. But ultimately the book wasn't that compelling because everything was revealed in one big dump. I'll try other Ishiguro books based on the strength of his writing - does anyone have a favorite to recommend?

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Thursday, February 02, 2006

 

and as if that weren't bad enough...

... the baby Fish got pukey sick and I didn't even get to babysit.

However, I am scheduling an appointment with the department counselor at Shoreline, because I *think* I may have found an error in how they totalled up my points. I won't explain it in detail now, but suffice to say that if they had looked at one course as meeting my quantitative reasoning requirement, and a different course as meeting my chemistry requirement, I would've had enough points to at least be chosen as an alternate. So. I will go see the counselor and see if switching the courses (all of which I took years ago, it's not like I'm changing anything after the fact!) just might do the trick.

I think I might throw up in her office if she says, "Sorry, we can't accept that because you didn't type it in the right little box on the form."

 

dammit!

Well, so much for not getting a rejection letter... I got it today. The number of points needed to even be an alternate for Shoreline's nursing program is up to 115. I had 113. This means I need to do a hell of a lot of volunteer work before I'll get accepted.

I've placed calls to two local hopsitals' volunteer departments... hopefully I can swing into action quickly. I wonder how much they'll actually let me work?

 

rain

For those of you who don't live in Seattle, here's a data point: We have received more rain in the past 45 days than we normally receive in 6 months. Sigh.

Not too much has been going on with me. We're adapting to life as a one-cat family. We both still forget for a second that Kady's not here when we see a lump in the bed or a flash of white from the corner of an eye. I sometimes wonder why no one is trying to jump in my lap when I work at the computer (that was one of her favorite things to do). But overall, we're doing all right. R* says the image of her body on the table in the vet's office really upsets him. As for me, I was already crying so hard by the point that she passed on, the image of her body lying there is not that upsetting. It was the whole experience of saying goodbye that was difficult.

I'm waiting to hear back about school. R* pointed out that no news is good news because they send out the rejection letters first. :) I've come up with a few places I could go to volunteer to improve my application for next time if that becomes necessary. The problem is, I would need to submit my next application by April, so I need to start volunteering right away... but then if I start going to school in March, I will have to back out of my volunteer committment and I'll look like a jerk.

This afternoon I'm babysitting little Fish while his mom does some stuff at work. Her company is allowing her to work part-time from home for a while, but she still has to go into the office occasionally. I'm excited to test-drive a baby. I've spent quite a bit of time with Fish at his family's house, but I haven't spent any time with him alone. It's only for a couple of hours, so even if he screams the entire time, it will be fine. Well, he'll be fine. I might be a wreck.

Oh! The coolest thing I've done recently is visit Volterra, a new Italian restaurant in Ballard, for dinner. It was so good. The space is lovely, the food is high-quality and delicious, and there are a lot of nice little touches that elevate the experience. For example, R* and I both ordered hot tea because we were freezing after walking a couple of blocks in the rain - and they brought us Forte Tea on adorable silver platters, with a ramekin filled with two kinds of lump sugar, a length of honey-stick, and a tiny tea biscuit for dunking. When we requested cream to add to the tea, our waiter reappeared with two tiny silver creamers. Really, really nice. (By the way? I usually think that pretentious fancy tea doesn't taste any better than regular old tea, but this tea was amazing - it was the Forte blend which is Ceylon tea and jasmine flowers.) We called for a reservation and went kind of early, just before 7:00, and by the time we had our entrees the place was PACKED. On a Tuesday night. So if you want to try it, call ahead!

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