Back in the Saddle Again

Current Netflix rental:


I'm still trying to decide whether or not I want to claim this school. I started the semester by going to Denton last weekend for an "Institute" to get me started on one of my classes. It can't be by accident that it sounds like a euphemism for sanitorium. As much fun as it was sitting around joking with librarians about metadata, I was glad when it was over. I hate PowerPoint presentations. I would rather just sit and listen to a lecture. I guess I'm old-fashioned. Peter Norvig created this hilarious Gettysburg PowerPoint Presentation. One of my few great undergrad professors showed me this parody a few years ago, and I thought it was hilarious. Also, I do not like the cliché, "There are no dumb questions." There are lots of dumb questions. There are lots of irrelevant questions. I already have an overdeveloped hubris, and grad school seems to be exaggerating it.

On to more fun endeavors: The first night I was down in the Metroplex, I stayed with James and Michele in Ft. Worth. That was fun. First, they gave me a librarian action figure that is apparently not without controversy. Nancy Pearl comes all decked out in a wild red outfit and Easy Spirit shoes. She has a button on her back that you press to make her raise her finger to her lips in a shushing motion. If they had given me the (related?) Crazy Cat Lady action figure, you can bet I'd be checking myself into an Institute right away.

The three of us had dinner at Joe T Garcia's. It was pretty good, but there was a birthday party for someone turning 21 at the table next to us. Obviously, we had trouble carrying on a conversation what with that racket.

Friday and Saturday night, I had fun with my best foodie friend Matt. We went to La Duni for dinner on Friday. The restaurant was really gorgeous. I had Frijol con Puerco for dinner, and it was fabuloso. Then for dessert, I tried the Cuatro Leches Cake, as if tres weren't enough. I'm going to try my hand at that recipe someday soon. Matt had the Rollo de Canela y Nuez for his dessert, and that was yummy, too.

There is so much to do down there compared to little ol' Lubbick. Country girl goes to the big city again... We talked about going to see the Dallas Symphony Saturday but couldn't get tickets. Instead we went up to Plano and the Shops at Legacy. I wonder if I would think all of this was so über cool if I lived there. We ate at Taco Diner. I had the Crispy Enchiladas Verdes. Cute restaurant. We were going to see The Queen at the Angelika - the theater has a chandelier in the lobby - but we arrived in time to sit on the front row, so we skipped out. I like Matt's house. It has a turquoise range and oven from the 1950s.

Sunday night I met James and Michele for dinner again. This time we celebrated James's 31st birthday at the Macaroni Grill. Then I had to hit Whole Foods while I could. Missing that is not an option. I was rushed, becuase they were about to close, but I had time to grab my favorite Cranberry Orange Scones and some Chocolove bars to take home to the fam. That's the story of my whirlwind Interstate tour of the Metroplex. Can anyone tell that I'm trapped in foodie hell in Lubbock?


I'm trying to avoid my homework. It's been calling my name for days, despite my best efforts to avoid it. I don't know what it is about being back to school. My schoolwork doesn't really take all that much time, but it seems like just enough to push me over the edge sometimes, make me curl up into the fetal position and not want to get out of bed. Maybe it's the cold weather, too. I cannot stand winter. It's like getting dumped - dark and depressing - the literal cold shoulder. It makes me want to pull the blankets over my head. Spring cannot come soon enough. I'm just being a drama queen. Here's a funny: At the time of this posting, the Texas Tech homepage has a picture of a snow skier jumping off a mountatin. (It's next to the campus life links at the bottom of the page.) I have lived in Lubbock many many years, but I have yet to go snow skiing here.