And Another Thing...

One more weird thing about North Carolina: the men here don't finish your ice cream for you when you can't finish it. All the men in my life in Chicago - my dad, my brother, Mr. D - would all have at least taken a whack at the remainder of my unfinished M&M blizzard.

Anxiety Crane and Notorious B.I.G. of Econ

Last night I slept horribly. I was worrying about my Econ exam today (my first grad school exam, well, quiz - ). I did sleep, but I tossed and turned all night. I kept half-waking up and finding myself in really weird physical poses. Like some tense crane arm position (think: Kung Fu Hustle). And later, with one leg crunched way up and the other leg just out normal (think: Justin Timberlake high-knee step dance move only not dancing).

I woke up knowing I was overly nervous and thus flipping through my iPod to find the proper pick-me-up song before test time. When I hit on Notorious BIG's "Big Poppa," I knew I found my morning jam. On my way to school I imagined myself as the Notorious BIG of Economics. Like, I'd be a really fat dude with lots of dollar bills who drew really accurate supply and demand curves. Unh- babe-a babe-a! Silly and ridiculous, I know, but I'm sure it helped me ace the test.

Small Town Perks

The top headline in today's local paper was probably geared (and I think successfully) just to increase sales. This is probably the most salacious but least important news I can think of. See this:
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/712570.html

I would say, "Welcome to the South," but I'm guessing this type of stuff *may* happen all over the country. They just might not publish it in the paper in other places...

When You Deserve To Get Treated Passive-Aggressively

My downstairs neighbor is a post-graduate school slob.
He never takes a turn to put out the trash (we share a trash can), nor does he ever bring the trash can BACK from the curb. He has poker parties where him and his friends drink a lot of beer, then he puts the beer in the recycling bin but never takes that out to the curb either. See exhibit A:

Note the huge cobweb from the recycle bin to the house because so much time has passed since dude took out the recycling.

Also, this guy collects his "junk mail" and throws it in some random bin that he keeps in the hall way. I have never seen him empty this bin, and the hallway is collecting additional detritus such as lint balls and dryer sheets, bits of plastic, and yesterday A HUGE PALMETTO BUG, which doesn't seem to bother dude at all. See exhibit B:Where I've started using my own recycle bin and just given in about taking out the trash, having his nasty trash overflow in the common space is really starting to get on my nerves. I was ranting to Mr. D about this, and he suggested that someone that behaves like my neighbor deserves to be treated passive-aggressively. And I had to agree. So, I'm thinking of writing him a note, in the spirit of one of my favorite websites, passiveaggressivenotes.com. Do you have any ideas for passiveaggressive notes, dear readers? I'll post some ideas too in the next few days.

"Guys In Ties." "Girls In Pearls."

Can you find me amongst some of my new classmates?
We are dressed up for a morning tailgate party for the college football game.

What Accent, You Tie-Wearing Weird-Ass?

Undergrad Brats

There are three apartments on the lot where I live, so I share the yard space with a bunch of guy undergrads. They kind of suck. One reason they kind of suck is that they have campfires in the back yard starting at 12 a.m. and going until 4 a.m. Whatever wood they use for these fires is maybe soaked in bacon grease or something because it has a weird smoky/meaty smell. They also throw beer cans into the fire. On one hand, I sort of think it is awesome that they can pretend campfire on the weekends, but on the other hand, it stinks, it's dirty, and it's right under my window.


Data Crunching Satisfaction

School got really busy starting this week. I spent probably 20 hours downloading Census data and formatting it. When my head was on the verge of exploding (and after I spilled a cup of hot coffee on my hand and cried for 10 minutes in the campus bookstore bathroom) I was able to step back and realize this: grad school is not fun right now but I probably am learning some skills to be a better planner and policy maker. Whoo. I also spent the entire Friday in the library doing data crunching, but came out with a strangely high amount of self-satisfaction for getting so much work accomplished. Weird.


My Accent?

I have now been asked twice about my "Wisconsin accent." The first time someone asked me about it, it went one ear and out the other. The second time I was like, "I have a Wisconsin accent?" and people were like, "Oh YEAH!" It's news to me. I guess I've never lived outside my home region where I could "have an accent." I've also never lived in a region where they wear ties and seer-sucker pants to a football game. They say: it's more refined. I say: it's more uptight.

Other things they haven't heard of down here: the movie "Shortbus," and eye surgery for Asians.

I Cooked My First Steak

It's official.
I'm trying new things.
I cooked my first steak!

I got a "flat iron" steak at Whole Foods yesterday in anticipation of a BBQ that I never attended. I rubbed it with olive oil and some random Chef Paul Prudhomme's "Meat Magic" and pan fried it for 5 minutes a side. It was delicious! I think the cut was slightly tough, but I didn't mind that. It wasn't leathery and the rub was spicy and flavorful. I made a complementary spinach and fresh tomato salad for a delicious and amazing dinner. Hooray! Who knew steak could be so easy?

Temple of the Mind

I'm about to start a day of studying. What's amazing is that 11 a.m. on Sunday morning is equivalent to ghost town time in a college town. Except for the many, many people who are going to church right now, this joint is deserted.

Today, I'm worshipping at the church of the mind, which apparently involves listening to opera and researching Census data in the library.

Wish me luck.

Bike Ride for Coffee and Happiness and Micheal Jackson

Saturday was probably my best day yet since I've lived here in North Carolina. I went with a new friend to participate in a bike ride around Durham. It was a fundraiser for sending bikes to Rwandan coffee growers. The bike ride included stops at local businesses - a community garden, a co-op bike space, a record store, a coffee shop. It was fun to be outside and fun to see some cool community spots. I enjoyed spending the day getting to know a new friend. Then we went to a Durham bar for beers and snacks. Then we went out to dance and enjoy the band, Who's Bad?, a Micheal Jackson cover band. I danced a lot, and really enjoyed the music.

It was a full day.

Hone Your Listening Skills

I'm still kind of amazed about the whole student lifestyle. I read, read, read. Do a problem set. Do a group project. Listen to 3 lectures. Then go home. Then repeat.

While I am in school now to get in and get out with a degree that will help me advance my career, I keep thinking about those students who are in it for the Ph.d. They do what I do. Plus research. Plus write a dissertation. Then they play politics and cross their fingers to get a good job. Then they do more research and have to prepare the lectures. There is nothing inherent in being a good student that leads to being a good teacher or a good lecturer. And nowhere else, besides school, are we supposed to listen and absorb what someone says for hours and hours as a method of learning a skill. It's really weird when you think about it. But, all in all, the academic lifestyle certainly has a lot of benefits, and allows for quite a lot of leisure time, if you can get your work done without procrastinating.

As for skills, I have noticed an increase in my reading/skimming speed, for what it is worth. And, for the most part, I can concentrate on expanding my mind and thinking about the subject matter, and hell, fantasizing what kind of job I want to do next, rather than work politics or pay scale or whatever. It's kind of nice... still busy, but nice.
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"Da Cheek's" annoyance of the week: The undergrad boys that live in the front house and their recent obsession with grilling stinky meats underneath my bedroom window at 2 a.m. At least I've gotten them to stop parking me in on the weekend so I don't have to wait until their 2 a.m. 'stink meat and bud light' hangover wears off at 2 p.m.

"Da Cheek's" wonder of the week: Locopop's flavor named "Creamy Lime." Mmmm.