Too few hours in the day, or Too Many hours in the Night?

It seems lately that I just can't seem to fit everything in. And of course, when it rains it pours with things that have to be done immediately! I'd rather be busy than bored though, and I'm definitely having my wish granted. Isn't it funny how works expands to fill the time you have. If you have 3 weeks to finish one project you take 3 weeks. But, if you are given less time you can usually get it done. This is a major problem for me. I know what needs to be done, but I can't seem to get in gear until the pressure on. Why is it that we can't put pressure on ourselves... atleast for me it always comes from an external source.

Oh well, going for someting to eat now...more later.

Deb "can't always get what you want" Manica

New Website

I have finally posted a "Professional Website" for myself. You can check it out at the above link. It's not that interesting, but it did take me all afternoon to put together..

Friday night was alot of fun. We had a dinner reception at Dr. Jacob's House in McKinney. The food, drink and company were all good, and I had a really nice time. We seem to all be totally different people outside our work environment. It's funny how you can feel more comfortable around other people just by changing locations.

That night I went to Denton and Ulku, my office mate, came with me. We met up with Ed and her husband Kamil for a few drinks at Lucky Lou's before calling it an early night.

More later... check out my website though!

Deb "fingers are freezing" Manica

Excitement in the Air

I just wanted to start off with a HUGE CONGRATS to Michael and Nada.....Michael proposed a few days ago which is totally awesome! Though I haven't known Michael and Nada closely as a couple... from everything I've seen they are completely perferct for each other (I know...I'm so cliche, but its true... so I don't care!!!)

Thursdays seem to be late nights for me...which is good!! I seem to get so much done if I just force myself to stay at school all day. I definitely couldn't do it every day of the week, I would get too stressed out, but sometimes it feels really good to be totally exhausted.

I'm super excited because my ADAM and his VANCE are coming in town this weekend. I haven't seen them in awhile so I am really looking forward to hanging out with them! I'll be visiting them in Seattle soon, but I am excited to get a preview for my trip.

Tomorrow will be a long day for me, so I guess I'll be off!

Deb "I hope you all realize I stole this little quote thing from Tommy" Manica

City of Sin

I had an awesome day yestserday. Rather unusual. Toni and I went to New Orleans and back all in one day. We were both completely exhausted from the trip but glad we went.

The drive down took a little more than 9 hours, but was full of excitement. The weather was beatiful (around 80) and the sun was shining gently. We cruised with the windows and sunfroof open, music blaring and spirits high. We left at 6:30 am that morning (a few people had doubts about our departure time) and got into Dallas just in time to hit traffic. Outside the Dallas traffic (both coming and going) we had a pretty smooth ride.

Ani deFranco (sp?) was playing the House of Blues on Decatur in the French Quarter. We got there around 3:30 and picked up our tickets. Then we were on a mission for seafood. We asked alot of people for recommendations and ended up at a place called Deenie's which is apparently a Buckland style restaraunt. The food was really good and Toni and I kicked off our evening with a shot of Patron, a Bloody Mary for her, and a margarita for me. Looking back we should have taken some pictures of Toni's bloody mary. It came with a whole shrimp in it (I'm talking eyes, legs, tail, the works)

We headed to Bourbon street to take advantage of the ample supply of booze. Its so nice to be able to get a drink and keep walking around outside. I think that is awesome. New Orleans certainly has its own flavor, dixie style and blues music comes pouring out into the street. Certain spots of the road are unbearibly smelly, but others have aromas that could knock your socks off. After a double bacardi and coke, we got in line for the concert.

The house of blues venue is quite small and very intimate. The indigo girls opened for Ani, but we didn't really pay too close attention. I had never seen the Indigo Girls or Ani play before so this was a new experience for me. Of course, Toni has seen Ani a few times and thinks of her as a major influence in her life and was really excited about the show. I enjoyed the show, but somehow found it a little too rehearsed. The music was great, but her banter was obviously planned. According to Toni, she felt this show was less personal then the shows she has seen previously.

Okay, this is getting really long, so here is the short version of the rest. Ani finished, we left, we were tired, we got back to Denton at 9:00 am this morning.

The End.

Deb "on the road again" Manica

BLOG

Karaoke
More Karaoke
and More Karaoke....

And a little bit of studying. More on Wednesday.


Deb " I'll be here all week" Manica

For Good Measure

Hello All. I don't really have much to say today, but I'm trying to keep an entry every week day. I'm off to Denton for the weekend... so everyone enjoy!!!

Deb "practice makes perfect" Manica

Are you Mad?

`But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
`Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: `we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.'
`How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.
`You must be,' said the Cat, `or you wouldn't have come here.'
Alice didn't think that proved it at all; however, she went on` And how do you know that you're mad?'
`To begin with,' said the Cat, `a dog's not mad. You grant that?'
`I suppose so,' said Alice.
`Well, then,' the Cat went on, `you see, a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad.'

Ted posted this on the thought of the day... It made be think about how we define things. So many words that we use daily we don't really have a good "working definition" for. Like in Reality Bites when Winona Ryder's character is asked "Define Irony"... she says something to the effect of "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it." So, as a new productive effort of my blogging I am going to start including definitions of words I use all the time, but can't necessarily explain well.

We'll start with irony.

irony : the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning

This is only one of many definitions provided by webster.

Enjoy!

Late Night Continued

Today was another busy day, semi productive, but I haven't finished my assignment for tomorrow. In fact, I'm kind of annoyed about doing it at all, because I was really making good progress on one of my papers. I guess this is life!!

Mom took me out for bbq tonight to celebrate passing the QE. Dad is taking me out tomorrow... so there goes the whole being buff thing the next time I see you. It's always a trade off, when I am busting but at school, I get out of shape, and when I am busting but at the gym, I slack at school. Oh well, someday I will achieve a happy medium!

So if any of you need a tool to keep you off task (and haven't already seen this from Mike and Erin's Thought of the Day) check out this game....I played it all afternoon, part of the reason for the lack of productiveness!

http://www.popcap.com/launchpage.php?theGame=insaniquarium&src=big8


The downloaded trial version has cooler graphics, but you get the same idea from the online game.

Deb "too many fish in the sea" Manica

Late Night

It has been a long day....nicely interrupted by a new a faculty/staff/ph.D welcome party!! Everybody needs a nice glass of wine in the middle of their productive day.

Surprisingly enough, I have been more productive since the wine than I have in a long time... maybe I should have a drinking lunch more often. It's really late now, and to spice things up a bit I visited one of my new favorite sites... EBaumsWorld!!

Check out this link about the end of the world!!!

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/endofworld.html

Deb "but I am le tired" Manica

Second Attempt at Conquered Qualifier

So I posted this once already, but blogger had a fit... Anyways, I'm sorry that this won't be with as much as enthusiasm as the original, but I'll do my best.

Yesterday afternoon I was told that I have officially passed my qualifier. What is more exciting, is that of the five students who took the exam, I am the only student that does not have to re-write any of the questions WOO HOO!! I am now a Ph.D. Candidate instead of a Ph.D. Student.

Will and I went out for a treat.... BRAUM'S ICE CREAM!!!! Instead of a drunken celebration we had a caloric celebration! We wandered around the park nearby Will and Ed's Mom's house, and reminisced about the old days.

Today my allergies are out of control... I sneezed 11 times on my 10 minute drive to school. BUGGIN!! I'm all caff'ed up on coffee now, so I feel better....

Deb "The Ph.D. Candidate" Manica

Nothing will Top the Elephant Man!!

Hello all!! I had a fantastic weekend. We started off Friday night with karaoke (on the new karaoke machine) and had a terrific time. Dan did an amazing performance of Fiona Apple's "Criminal", Toni performed Lisa Loeb's "Stay", Ed and I sang "Summer Nights" from grease, Chris showed his own special style with Angela on the famous Sonny and Cher duet "I got you Babe", Beth timidly sang Melissa Etheridge's "Come to my Window", but the most amazing performance goes to Jordan and his "It's Raining Men" extravaganza. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard....let's just say the elephant man came out and if you want more details email me!

After the drunken debauchery of Friday night, Beth and I headed out to Ft. Worth to meet Keirschen for a girls afternoon. We saw "Garden State" at the Sundance 11 AMC in dowtown Ft. Worth. I was quite impressed with the movie and with the soundtrack. It was very entertaining, the cinematography showed influence from many films like Oceans 11 and Ferris Bueller. Anyways, I really liked it. We bar hopped, had dinner, and ended the evening with a drink at the Reata. The Reata is an awesome rooftop bar/ restaraunt in sundance square. You get great views of the city and a breezy atmosphere....slightly pricey, but definitely worth it. Oh, and Beth and I bought cowboy hats... I think it is about time that I had one. I've only lived here my WHOLE LIFE!!!

Sunday.... Ed cashed in one of his "girlfriend coupons" from Valentine's Day last year and I persuaded Toni to help me wash his car. Visited the parent's and wathched "Man on Fire". This movie ROCKS!!! Everyone should see it!

Now I'm at school, clearly not being produvtive since I'm blogging instead of working.. Oh well.

Deb "the two-steppin' cowgirl" Manica

Two Days in a Row

This may be a first for me. I'm actually writing in my blog two days in a row!

As I mentioned yesterday, I've started working out again, and, boy, am I paying for it. I am soooooo sore today. Almost every movement causes a twinge of pain! Oh well, it kind of feels good...." Hurt so good, come on baby make it hurt so good...." that's how I feel!

Night before last I sang karaoke with myself!! I am probably the biggest dork I know .... but it was really fun. I really love to sing, although most people around me would prefer that I didn't, there is really something freeing about it. Also, it is an excellent distraction from homework, cleaning, and any other productive outlet.

That's all for now.

Deb "singing like there's nobody listening" Manica

This one's for you Jay!!

Hello everyone....actually, I'm pretty sure Jay is the only one that looks at this anymore since I've had a 7 month hiatus from blogging.PATHETIC!! I'm going to try keeping up with this again.... we'll see how it goes (that means you and me Jay).

Things that have happened since February:
(1) My niece got cuter
(2) I got older (24)
(3) Took my qualifying exam (don't know if I passed yet)
(4) Ed got cuter and moved to Denton.... don't think I don't know what you are doing up there.... aren't education classes full of girls?
(5) Bought a karaoke machine (this was just yesterday).


That just about hits the main points.

I've been spending alot of time working on two papers.... they never seem to end. As soon as we think we've got it all figured out we realize that we are on the wrong track. I hope to have both of these papers submitted to journals by the end of this semester. That would ROCK!!

I've also been working out lately, maybe the next time you see me I will be buff!!!

Well, I think that is a good start back....

Deb "wishing there was more time in the day" Manica