Monkey Busy-ness September 26, 2006
Posted by Snow Monkey in Adoption, Books, Monkeys, Television, Travel.3 comments
The semester began three weeks ago today, and it’s been a busy three weeks.
For starters, there’s the teaching, the research, and all the fun administrative stuff that comes at the beginning of the school year.
Add to that the beginning of the fall TV season. Not that I’m complaining, but I’m invested in too many TV shows. There’s The Amazing Race on Sunday night, as I’ve already mentioned (my Bluegrass roots demand that I root for Team Kentucky, though they make me a bit self-conscious). Then America’s Next Top Model on Wednesday night (I know I said that TAR was the only reality TV show that I watched, but I lied; yes, I’m ashamed). Then three in a row on Thursday night: My Name Is Earl, The Office (I liked how the premiere handled the Jim/Pam situation), and CSI. And Lost hasn’t even started back up yet. I’m lucky that the first episode of Heroes didn’t particularly captivate me.
I also had the ten-year check up on the heart valves that I had replaced. Everything looked fine, but now I’m a just little worried about whether my having had the surgery will hurt our application to adopt from China (this discussion at Rumor Queen has both reassuring and disquieting—but mostly reassuring—information on that score).
On a less serious note, I did a one-monkey media blitz: two television appearances, one radio show, and a newspaper interview (that’s all I can say, however, because I’m Clark Kenting it here).
Last, but not least, I’ve done a lot of reading for fun. Specifically, I’ve been reading books and short stories by Manly Wade Wellman, who mixes horror and occultism with Southern folklore and folk music. Manly gets bonus points with me for living in Chapel Hill, NC for more than three decades (I spent a few years there myself). I checked out five of his books from the local library; four of them hadn’t been checked out for the past year.
In other news, happy belated birthday to SBird. It’s nice that she had fun in Vegas (I recommend the New York-New York hotel and RumJungle; I would diss the Tropicana, but I hear that they finally blew it up).
While I’m at it, I’d like to give a shout-out to Monkeyhead, who is not only a fellow monkey but also someone who knows the secret sign.
Edited to add: Oh, yeah, my parents went to Paris (a change of pace from their last destination, Hawai’i). I would like to go there someday. Sure, I’ve been to the top of the Eiffel Tower, but that was when we were staying at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas.
Phil, How I Have Missed Thee September 16, 2006
Posted by Snow Monkey in Television, Travel.6 comments
Tomorrow night, a new season of The Amazing Race begins.
TAR is the one reality TV show that I regularly watch. It’s also the one reality TV show in which ZGirl and I would like to participate. I wouldn’t even get jealous about ZGirl’s crush on host Phil Keoghan.
A few seasons back, one of my former students took part in the race. Sadly, she didn’t win.
This season is noteworthy in that it features two Asian American teams: Erwin and Godwin (two brothers) and Vipul and Arti (a married couple). On the one hand, good for CBS. On the other hand, the network took ten seasons to get there (I’m not even going to touch the racial/ethnic segregation on this season of Survivor; anyhow, I quit watching that show a long time ago).
Of course, part of the fun is reading Miss Ali’s recaps of the show at Television Without Pity. But there goes part of my workday.
Log-In Date: August 29, 2006 September 5, 2006
Posted by Snow Monkey in Adoption.7 comments
Our adoption dossier has been registered in China.
Huzzah!
At Least It’s Not 7 x 70 September 4, 2006
Posted by Snow Monkey in Memes.7 comments
I was in Philadelphia this weekend. Saw the bell. It was fun.
I returned to discover that Singing Bird had tagged me with the 7×7 meme. Here goes.
7 things I want to do without dying of embarrassment:
1. Sing karaoke.
2. Breakdance.
3. Go on a 50-mile bike ride (come to think of it, I might die of exhaustion before embarrassment)
4. Ice skate.
5. Ride a horse.
6. Mix drinks.
7. Run for office.
7 things I can’t do in the summer:
1. Drink hot chocolate.
2. Watch sports (no college basketball).
3. Wear my favorite wool jacket.
4. Hunt the Wendigo.
5. Assign papers.
6. Ski (not that I can do that in the winter, either).
7. Forget how harsh winters around here can be.
7 things I can do that are meaningless unless you’re in junior high:
1. Play “Wild Thing” on a bass guitar.
2. Make a one-bounce free throw.
3. Construct booby-traps.
4. Crack my right wrist.
5. Summon Beelzebub.
6. Freak out motorists at night by (a) getting together with some friends to put a heavy log across a gravel country road, (b) going back down the road and hiding in the woods to wait for a car to pass by, (c) placing another log in the road after the car has passed, thereby blocking the car’s way on both ends, and (d) leaving.
7. Vandalize just about anything.
7 things that attracted me to my house:
1. The Victorian architecture.
2. The proximity to work.
3. The proximity to a body of water.
4. The three floors. I grew up in a ranch house, so multi-floored houses always seem cool to me.
5. The fenced-in back yard, complete with a pear tree.
6. The non-Euclidian hardwood floors.
7. The strange whispers from the basement that nobody else could hear.
7 things I say most when I’m crying:
1. I love me some onions.
2. Couldn’t I simply cut those nose hairs instead of pulling them out by their roots?
3. Damned contact lenses.
4. The light…it burns my eyes.
5. Next time, I think that I’ll ask for “mild.”
6. Nooooo, why didn’t you guard the inbound passer?
7. Poor Tin Man and Lion—why did Dorothy need to twist the knife by saying that she was going to miss the Scarecrow most of all?
7 children’s books that I’m adding to my own collection (someday):
1. Where The Wild Things Are. It’s always wild rumpus time.
2. Goodnight Moon. No explanation necessary.
3. A Wind in the Door. I always wondered what happened after the first book.
4. The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain. And anything else by Lloyd Alexander that I don’t already own.
5. Green Eggs and Ham. And all the rest by the good doctor.
6. Below the Root. I read this one and the third book in the Green-sky series when I was a kid, but my library didn’t have the second book.
7. Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery. Never read it, but I love the concept.
7 children’s movies that I can watch for the bazillionth time without wanting to rip my eyes from their sockets:
1. Spirited Away. Couldn’t possibly become dull no matter how many times I watched it.
2. Into the West. Never seen this movie about two Irish boys and a potentially magical horse? You should.
3. The Little Mermaid. Man, Ariel was smokin’. [Sorry.]
4. Toy Story. The sequel was all right, too.
5. The Secret of NIMH. Not as good as the book, but still good.
6. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Charlie was a world-class dweeb. Even so, Gene made it all OK.
7. Oedipus the King. No, wait…
I hereby tag Zen Mama (when she gets the time) and the Smithie.
