Oh, yappy dog.

The yappy dog downstairs is yapping. It's nearing midnight, and yet the dog still yaps.

Hush, yappy dog, hush.

I understand why people like dogs, generally. I rather like particular breeds of dog myself, and would perhaps consider owning a Lab - particularly a Chocolate Lab - or something similar. However, small yappy dogs do not fit the "dog" bill, for me. Apologies to anyone who owns one, but... er... I think they suck.

We have two smaller dogs living below us (only for another few weeks, bless!) and though they are the same size and might even be the same breed, only one qualifies as a "yappy" dog. I believe it's somewhat neglected, in fact, though not in a call-the-spca way. Simply, I think Yappy Dog's owner doesn't pay it much attention. Therefore, it yaps. A lot.

Shhhhhhh, little yappy dog. I would like to get some sleep tonight.

Class From Hell is almost over. Counting tonight, there are two classes left.

I was breathing a sigh of relief - admittedly, an early sigh of relief - when I realized that I need to hand out student evaluations tonight. I have every confidence in the world that these evaluations will suck, so I'm not thrilled about them even in unfilled-out stage.

Granted, being able to leave 1/2 hour early to let the students complete the evaluations is a bonus, in this class. Yes, yes, I know they should do them first thing, so that they don't run out the door without writing comments... see above about "evaluations will suck."

The fact is, it's almost over. I realize that most semesters bring at least one class that just doesn't work, and this was mine.

Spring!

After last week's snowstorm, even Mr. Squirrel was starting to wonder if Spring would ever come. This weekend and into Monday, we hit the low 80's - this, less than a week after the snowstorm - and today has settled into sunny low 60's. It's Spring, thank gosh.

With more sun and warmer weather, I feel like I can make some strides toward exercise and improved diet*. Once again I'm cutting out beer (this seems to work for a week, and then I slide for a week or two) and trying to get daily cardio exercise. My goal is to go with the cardio for two solid weeks, and then try to add strength training back in. I still can't find anything that counts as "strength training" that I'll do reliably, so it's always more difficult for me than cardio.

Does yoga count as strength training? Obviously it's great for muscle tone, but does that count?

*As I've said before, "diet" for me essentially means "no beer." There's not a lot to fix, otherwise. I rarely eat sugar, I don't drink soda, and we make most (if not all) of our meals at home. My body has a low tolerance for packaged-type foods, so most everything is fresh.

snowstorm!

Yes, it is April 16th. Yes, that is waaaaay past the Spring Equinox. And yes, I'm in the NorthEast and just got almost a foot of snow. (ETA: The picture above is what I found when I tried to leave for class this morning. No, that's not a perspective issue... the branch really is about the size of my car. It missed it by about three feet.)

Mr. Squirrel's college has closed for the day. My college (as usual) has not. Honestly, it's not impressively bad outside, so I'm not surprised that we're open -- most of the closings are because of the timing of this storm, not how bad it is.

My neighbor is out shoveling, which I find ridiculous as it will be 45 tomorrow, with rain.

I did cancel my office hours for this morning, which is excusable due to the storm. In reality, I reached the saturation point of dumb student emails around 10pm last night, and needed the morning off. Not that any of them come to office hours, or read the syllabus, or read the "reminder!" emails I send out. One student in particular last night, while trying to explain why she wasn't prepared for her seminar today, included the questionable line "I've been really busy with school."

Uh, hello? School, here. As in, your senior seminar?

I'll assume she's talking about her other school and leave it at that.

Update on the weather situation: Boy, was I wrong about it not being horrible outside. I realized - after seeing that branch and clearing my car off - that this is HEAVY, wet snow. I did leave for class, and nearly made it to campus... first, I had to drive over a downed power line. (Er, that probably wasn't very smart, but it was in a major intersection and there wasn't much choice.) Second, the main road to campus had just been closed off by a Very Large Tree crashing down. Finally, as I backed up and turned onto a back road, I was confronted by a Muni Bus that had... jackknifed? Obviously not, but whatever you call it when a bus skids off the road and partially overturns.

I turned around and came home.

Post-Friday the 13th

I'll count this as good Friday the 13th news, since the letter went out yesterday.

My two classes at Even Smaller Private College this fall are not considered adjunct courses, but rather count as a Lecturer position. I know it's silly to be happy about that, but it looks better on my CV, and it's what will be at the top of said CV this job market cycle.

Whee!

Am going in to Most Hated Class earlier than usual today and actually holding office hours.

Have made coffee. Have loaded iPod with appropriate audiobook. Have beer in fridge awaiting my return.

Sigh.

Next week, happily, is movie week: nearing the end of the term I show a film and we spend at least part of the class afterwards dissecting it using tools (supposedly) learned during the semester. What this means for me is that both my night classes next week are lecture-free zones. Whee!!! Watch, though, that I still don't want to go to this particular class when Thursday rolls around...

Anger issues?

I belong to a very small bulletin board that I rarely post on these days. Yesterday, I wandered over and there was a post about hair color. In summary: A high school student had dyed her hair purple, and was sent home from school. The parent was defending her daughter's right to have purple hair, and the poster - the person posting this whole story on the board I belong to - thought that was soooooo ridiculous.

Meaning, ridiculous for the parent to defend their child, apparently.

The whole post ended with "what, so now it's normal for 17 year olds to dye their hair purple?" and "I would have shaved her head and sent her back."

Now, granted, very few people responded (this is supposed to be a friendly-type board, where things don't get debated), but one response was "I sure hope her mother takes pictures, because that girl will laugh at herself later."

Laugh at herself? For her hair color? Maybe if you beat all the individuality and self-confidence out of her, sure! Let's do that!