While I was staring at you with calm affection, you were searching out my imperfections.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people point out a stain on your shirt. Yes, I know it's there. What do you want me to do about it? I'm no Girl Scout! I don't have a backpack full of extra shirts that I could don. Plus, I JUST got this stain today. I was drinking coffee in my noble attempt not to fall asleep right on top of this keyboard. I don't think people SHOULDN'T point things out. For instance, let me know if I have spinach between my teeth. I'd thank you and discretely fish it out. There are two differences between these two scenarios. The first is in the ease of remedy: how quickly can I fix the situation? Chances are it is a lot easier to get rid of the spinach than it is to get rid of the stain. A fly is easier to zip than a tear is easier to sew. Second, how likely is it that the person is aware of the "problem"? I may not know that I have food in my teeth, but I probably realized that I got coffee on my shirt when I, uh, spilled the coffee. So, I would peg comments about a not-easily remedied and obvious snafus as rude and unneccessary. That is all.

What Ever Happened

I'm sitting in my office when I should really be in the chemistry building, enduring my last five minutes of French. Sigh. I am definitely changing that class to an audit. The amount of homework in it is insane; I cannot keep up with that as well as my RA work and work for my prospectus. This weekend I met D's parents and it went very, very well. Yay! I was so nervous! They were both very nice and we got along nicely. Is it so wrong that I think that Dan's mom and I are a lot alike? It makes me wonder if men look for women who are like their mother. Supposedly women look for people like their fathers, but I've never heard anything implying that the relationship is symmetrical. Anyway, a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

Isabel My Belle

Not much to write today; it has been a fairly crappy day. Isabel broke her arm (paw?) and she is having surgery right now. I was with her at the vet's and then at the animal hospital. Frankly, I was a mess. I cried more than she did, the poor dear! I stayed up until 3:30 am working on the Jean Monnet paper. I am still not finished. I hate federalism. Please keep Izzy in your thoughts. She is a real trooper, but some moral support couldn't hurt. The picture above was taken last night. She stayed up with me to offer me encouragement. She's just like that.

While the boy plays the guitar, the girls will sing.

I'm working in my delicious new office, which I've been told smells. My office has a window and dammit if I don't love it. I don't smell the presumed odor, which makes me wonder: maybe it's me? Gulp. It's Saturday and today Michigan could possibly redeem itself by defeating Oregon. We are going to the game. Erin is in from DC and I will meet up with her prior to kick-off. Then I will join the rest of the poli-sci crew to watch the game. I hope to God that there aren't any annoying undergrads next to me (I'm looking at you transfers from NY). Last year I was thisclose to throwing one down the stands and onto the field. I hate to say it but it's true: Michigan undergrads are the country's worst. It's a veritable douchebag convention. In other news, Dan is very excited about the game, given that he used to play football for the Ducks. I asked him if Joey Harrington knew his name and he gave me a very annoyed look and said, "Yes, Bisous. He held the ball for me." Those football teams are awfully big. That's all I was thinking. Last night Dan and I went to Derek's for a welcome back party. It was pretty fun, minus Dan pleading for a dog after we saw Ronin. No! No dogs! On Friday I should have this bloody Jean Monnet paper finished. I'm trying to update Lijphart's consensual versus majoritarian scores. Why the hell hasn't anyone done this FOR ME? Geez. Okay, back to work. Have a lovely Saturday.

Victory!

Yesterday I passed my American prelim and I am thisclose to being a candidate! I only need to have a few key players sign my plan of course work sheet and then I can join the legions of others sweating over their dissertations. I can't hardly wait. In light of yesterday's events, I am having difficulty concentrating on my work. Over the past few days Dan has been treating me like a princess and to thank him, I promised to make him a scrumptious meal (Dan normally is in charge of meals, while I am the humble yet very helpful sous chef. Actually, I usually imbibe a glass of wine while half-heartedly chopping vegetables. Now that I think about it, I really shouldn't mix knives and alcohol.). So after my workout, I headed to the farmer's market in Kerrytown to buy a few choice ingredients. It was a perfect day to be there: the weather was absolutely lovely, the market was teeming with people, and the produce was so colorful that I wanted to buy everything in sight. What's on tonight's menu, you ask? I am planning on making grilled striped bass with summer vegetables and couscous vinaigrette. David will be coming over to help me prepare the meal, and he and I will be watching Top Chef after we treat Dan to our wonderful meal. It sounds so nice and relaxing. I can't wait! Needless to say, I haven't been able to work. Is this okay? I know I have to finish this Jean Monnet paper. Lucky for me, the deadline has been extended, and I will have more time to make this piece something I wouldn't be embarassed circulating. So now I am going to get back to work, really, and then I will finally get to put all of my wonderful purchases to use. Life is very nice.

Backhanded Compliment OR In Desperate Need of Social Skills

It's a rainy Sunday and I'm in the fishbowl surfing the internet. I spent the entire day cleaning the house and I was determined to hit the gym around 4:30. I had already admitted to myself that I wasn't going to get any work done today. I'm just not in the mood, which is a terrible excuse, I know. I did have a lot to do this week, including submit a draft and prepare my presentation for the "Getting to Know EU" (I know) program. Anyway, I was folding clothes and I flipped the TV on to Vh1. "Rock of Love" was on and I don't know why, but I couldn't stop watching it. People are so strange! The house was half-filled with strippers, which was perfect really, since there were poles in every room. An interesting decorating choice to be sure. All of these contestants are fighting over a slightly overweight (pudgy? husky?) Brett Michaels. Why do I love bad reality TV so much? WHY? Oh the shame. On a different note, perhaps my viewing habits aren’t so harmful. For one, my love of low culture allows me to interact with people normally (humor me here). Yesterday a friend of mine (or at least I thought was my friend) gave me the most backhanded compliment. I think he needs to watch more reality television. "Jen," he began, "You have this way with people. They just really like you" At this point, I was beginning to turn pink. Oh, how nice of him! "I mean, you do this dumb blonde thing and underneath it you have this sharp mind. But you don't intimidate anyone. I can't imagine you intimidating anyone!” The smile fell from my face and I was overcome with this desire to know his glasses off his face. Instead, I summoned my inner Jackie O (who was smoking a cigarette, reading The New Yorker and was not at all pleased about the interruption). "Well," I started slowly, weighing each word carefully, "I don't think I come off as a dumb blonde and I certainly do not intend to, but I appreciate you saying that people like me." In the span of the next five minutes, he also managed to say that my boyfriend and I are made for each other because "we talk incessantly." Jackie! You’re needed!

Hiatus

After a long hiatus, I'm back. I apologize to all three of my devoted readers. So there are a lot of new developments (well, two new developments) that are worth noting. Dan and I adopted two beautiful cats. The decision to get two, rather than one, was Dan's, by the way. The shelter was having a two-for-one special, and how could we resist? Say hello to Bisous Cat (with Dan), and Isobel! Here is a favorite picture of Isobel, taken by my mac: She is helping me with my homework. In other news, today has been a perfect waste of a day. I got up late and after my workout I realized I had forgotten to pack a pair of jeans. Now I'm wearing my work-out bottoms and feeling horribly uncomfortable with myself. I am very particular about what I wear and an outfit can make-or-break my day. Ugh, you can say that these otherwise lovely WORK OUT pants have achieved the latter. In general I'm pretty disappointed with myself. If this was a movie, I would be in the midst of the exposition when the main character, dissatisfied with her life and feeling generally worthless, would jump into her jalopy and drive to her (insert female relative here) home, which is filled with women. Over the course of 90 minutes, said character would learn the meaning of her life through crocheting/cooking/pickling. Unfortunately, this is not an option for me. I hope I just have a case of the Wednesdays.