I've Been a Long Time Gone

So I decided to fill everyone in on the changes at our house. Maybe some of you are already familiar with these delightful changes. Maybe some of you will be inspired.
Exhibit A:
This sad girl with her snide cat is Blesh. She's maybe the noteworthy piece of art that we've had in our house for the longest time. She's in our bathroom. I feel bad for her every time I go in there. I can only postulate why she's crying. But I'm pretty sure it has something to do with that cat. And maybe the cat's indifference.



Exhibit B:
Along with the cat theme this is a gold foil cat that dh gave me for my b-day. It used to be central to the cat room in the apartment and he thought it should stay here. This cat is much more pleasant and cheerful than Blesh's cat. I think the 2 cats balance each other out maybe?




Exhibit C:
This is the retarded angel that hung on our Christmas tree last year but is now on our fridge.

Exhibit D:
This is the creepy little doll that DD gave me. I'm not sure why everyone seems to have the idea that they should give me creepy little dolls, but I commend everyone who does because it's the right idea. I seem to be a magnet for things like this. (She's holding an inspirational quote. Let me know if you're interested in knowing what it says.)



Exhibit E:
This is one of our newest additions. This is what dh gave Hoon for her b-day. And now he proudly hangs on our wall. I can't remember the name they gave him. Some sort of vampire g.a. thing.





I hope this was an enjoyable virtual tour of my life and my house. I'm a sporadic blogger. 3 posts in 1 day 3 months ago... 3 posts in 1 day 3 months later. But I'll try to be more regular.

Speaking of Being Focused...

In the past few years I've noticed some major changes in myself as far as focus goes. I compare my experiences in grad school with how I was in regular college and it's pretty amazing. Sad really. As an 18, 19, 20...year old in college I would take a lot of evening classes which were often 3 hour blocks. A lot of these were general ed science, history classes. Some were in large auditoriums with 300+ other students. These classes weren't necessarily exciting, but I remember being able to sit still and stay focused. I was always glad when class was over, but it never seemed too painful. Then I think about grad school. I'm older. I'm studying something I'm very interested in. My classes have all been small and overall engaging. Yet I have a harder time staying focused. Not just in class either. I struggle with staying committed to a number of projects (thesis). Maybe some people think this is silly, and maybe it is. But I attribute it in a lot of ways to my phone. I didn't have a phone in my undergrad years. Most of my friends had cellphones, but I resisted as long as I could. I didn't want this device to own me. But it has. I try not to text in class because I think it's disrespectful. But the second I get bored in a class I reach for my phone. To see what time it is. To see if anyone has texted me. To ask google what the weather will be tomorrow. It doesn't really matter the reason. I'm relieved that I've never wanted to take a laptop to class. I can only imagine. Class lectures would just be some annoying background noise I hear while I'm surfing.

This idea has intrigued me. I could go on and on. I feel so much more impatient than I think I used to. I feel my social skills diminishing... Yesterday I was listening to an old Radiowest podcast (i love d-fab!). It was called the Autumn of the Multitaskers. I highly recommend listening to it if you have the chance. It's an interview with the author of this article: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200711/multitasking . It's made me want to give away my phone and makes me feel that I'd probably be better off if I wrote out my thesis and then typed the final draft on a typewriter. Seriously. I would have been done months ago!

How Elin Got Her Groove Back

It's now been a month since my laptop was burgled. It had my entire thesis on it as well as articles and interviews for my thesis. And my backup was in my computer case, which was burgled as well. The strangest part to me is that as heart-wrenching as it has been to lose all of this toiled over writing and other stuff, the worst part has been losing my motivation. Luckily I emailed myself most of the sections I had written, so I didn't end up losing too much writing. I mostly lost my will. I lost a lot of hope and respect for mankind as well. For a couple weeks every person I saw walking down the street was the thief. I know, so unfair. I was surprised to feel so much bitterness. But anyone who would steal a poor grad student's laptop from 2002 worth about 20$ to anyone else, but priceless to me for the hours of work held on it as well as the even more hours of guilt for the lack of work on it. As if it hasn't already been hard enough to stay focused and driven enough to finish this thing. Anyway, I motivated to work on it again and I'm glad!