Alright, you people

I am leaving for Austin on Wednesday--for the long-awaited and much-deserved doctoral graduation ceremony on May 17. Super-excited!!!

But, as Jerry Reed put it so eloquently, I've got a long way to go and a short time to get there... Here are some of the things that need to get done before I leave on Wednesday morning.

1)um. laundry. Unless I do some laundry but-quick, I will be arriving in Austin nekkid. I miss my washer and dryer. Sigh.
2) Yeah, I should probably finish that paper. Despite my best efforts, I have gotten really excited about this Second Life thing for RSA, which is good and bad. The good: it will be submission-ready by the end of June. The bad: I also have to write a whole nother paper for a whole nother panel that I have not even begun. I'm thinking that one might be more like "Here are some thoughts, dear conference attendees, for your consideration."
3) Submit grades. Of course, students are coming out of the woodwork to find out why they did "all that work" for a "lousy B." So Monday is grade submission/grade-grubbing day.
4) Clean the house.
5) Get an extra key made for kitty sitter.
6) Decide how to pack for a week in humid, Africa-hot Austin and a week in This-is-not-my-beautiful-Spring-what-the-hell-it's-54-degrees-and-raining Seattle. Top priority = outfits that will go with new turquoise stillettos.
7) Watch "Zombie Strippers." My colleague just gave me a copy, and it is going to be awesome.
8) Call my godmother and make sure she knows which hotel we're staying in for the graduation.
9) Shop for thank you presents (to advisors and the office ladies) and Mom's day presents (for the Mom, of course).
10) Return/renew library books.

I am certain that there are things missing from this list. Never fear--they will get done--with all the panache of the Bandit and less runins with the law. Mostly.

For Alex... and you

I just heard last night that an acquaintance of mine (a dear friend of several dear friends) died unexpectedly. He was wonderful--sparkly, witty, beautiful, and charming. And he was young.

And the news is awful, and I know my dear friends are suffering. So I am writing this post for three reasons:
1) Because a Great Light has gone out.
2) Because I am here in NYC physically, but I am with my mourning friends mentally and emotionally.
3) And because, if you're reading this post and I haven't yet told you today how much I love you, well then, I love you. And I'm glad that I get to be a part of your symbolic universe, if only for a little while.

I am thinking about Austin

And here are the top 11 things that I miss:

1) My dear E!
2) Barton Springs
3) Accidental suntan lines
4) Alamo Drafthouse
5) Caps Tuesday
6) Monday night/Blues night at TC's
7) Kao Soi at Madam Mam's
8) That cheap earring place on Guadalupe
9) Bats
10) Zack's mom's pool
11) Happy hour at Kyoto's

Mmmmmm, Austin...

In Honor of the Lusty Month of May

These are the shoes I will wear to my doctoral graduation, and it will be hot.

I just saw

A preview for the movie Zombie Strippers.

No. I'm not kidding.
And, Yes, when it comes out on DVD (when oh when will that be?), I will place it at the top of my Netflix queue.

Let's hear it for thinly veiled moral allegories!!

Just So You Know

I do work sometimes. In fact, I have been percolating on my paper for RSA this weekend because I have GOT to get it to Michael this week. So, here is the breakdown:

Body of Paper:
It will be a two-part essay, discussing the potential for a responsible historical rhetoric in Second Life. The first part will be the good (focusing on the explicit/out-loudness of the rules within-world): how there are very explicit rules and boundaries within the world, how there are certain explicit ways to adapt and change those rules, and how the level of play within-world allows for a delicious bendiness to rules/boundaries that are not allowed in First World, mostly. The second part will be the bad (focusing on the prescience of good old JB): how the rules of First World are bleeding into the Second (starting with the names themselves), how the simulational capacity to devour meaning within and without the means of production are making the explicitness of Second Life's rules obsolete, and how the infiltration of things like the IRS and Microsoft and the Gap demonstrate this.

Conclusion? You betcha!
Good = revolutionary potential by rhetoric (we make the rules, we write the rules, we kick out the griefers)

Bad = JB was right--and the griefers don't always look like mad-cap hackers. Most of the time, they are wearing suits.

That being said, I make time to take ridiculous quizzes, and here are the results from a quiz designed to measure my nerdiness:

80% Geek

Because, OF COURSE, Han shot first.

I love Leonidas and Robot Chicken and not necessarily in that order