Just a quick update. I survived the first year! It was not easy. And I had about ten days of vacation before diving head first into the next challenging task (full time internship - which I love, summer school, and writing my comment for journal). This is a ten week marathon, which is already tiring but will be fine. I am keeping busy but still manage to make some time for mindless tv and happy hours with my friends. I had a great ten days off too. New Orleans is such a wonderful city. I wish it could be moved to a blue state. All that delicious food and good music and fun culture should not be wasted. And my nephews are giant and adorable. I wish I could be with them every single day. Life is constantly changing, but I'm just going with the flow. Nothing but positivity here. And Dina, I see that draft that you have attempted twice. Get to it, and give us an update! I miss you all terribly and can't wait to see you in August!

Hello guys,

This my first post in quite a long while, if you don't count the nonsense post that Hammad and I just made and erased. It was good to read the latest posts -- good luck to you Yamanda! You'll start hearing back soon, right?

I am still at Georgetown, now in the second half of my second year. There is an oh-no-scary Qualifying Review in a month and a half where I could (potentially, at least) get kicked out of the program, so I have to get professors to write letters of recommendation saying yes, I should stay in, and yes, I might have the stamina to finish a dissertation.

Hammad is here in the soulless condo canyon that is Virginia square. The median age is 302. Everyone rides around on rascal scooters and has small poodle mixes. So we have been going out to amuse ourselves. We saw inauguration from a great distance. {check my facebook} WE have visited the local ice rink but have not skated there. At some point, hopefully I will end up skating there possibly with Julia and Duchess in tow. And hopefully that modelicious-looking guy we saw will be there again.

Other news is that I can't type anything and have to use a speech recognition program called Dragon. I have to say "Press Control Sierra" any time I want to save a word document. My roommate can hear everything I do on the computer. This is all because I have weird wrist pains which no doctor can diagnose, much less cure. Clearly this doesn't inhibit my ability, however, to post on group blogs. YAY

OK well I hope to read and post more often. Until then bye bye!

A complaint letter to Borders - 1/21/09

My letter:

The last time I visited a Borders store in person, I noticed that most of the novels written by African American women had been relegated to the 'African American' section. I assume that the company made this change for ease of browsing, but as an avid reader and a Black woman, I assure you that when I want to find a book by, say, Alice Walker or Zora Neale Hurston, their Blackness is not their most salient feature to me. These authors write beautifully about the human experience, not some strange subset of it to be ghettoized.

It would be more appropriate if Borders included in the 'African American' section those works of non-fiction that are specifically about race identification. African American fiction should be included in the 'fiction' section of the store. It is not the responsibility of Borders to determine the literary canon for the American public.

As a customer, I would like to see these changes made.

Thank you for your time,
Manda

The reply:

hank you for contacting Borders Customer Care with your concerns about the categorization of this title.

The majority of titles purchased for our stores are actually classified by the publishers. If a publisher sends our buyers a catalog that defines a book as a certain subject, the buyers generally follow those guidelines. If the description of the book does not seem to match the subject, the buyer may request a copy of the book and review it. A judgment may then be made based on what is currently in the suggested section and where other titles by the same author may be shelved. In addition, authors may notify us that their book is shelved incorrectly and the buyers will adjust the placement of the title.

I hope that this information is helpful. Thank you for taking an interest in our stores and sending us your feedback.

Sincerely,

Kia

Borders Customer Care
http://www.bordersstores.com

I think this is bull, but whatever...

How can I make winter break last forever?

I cannot believe I only have a week of winter break left. It has been the most relaxing, most needed break ever. I hung out with my nephews in New Orleans. I slept. I read Twilight, which was so fun. I read a bunch of magazines. I watched every season of Weeds and rented a bunch of movies. I don't want it to end. But it will. And I will be going back to class starting January 12th. On the plus side, my professors for next semester are supposed to be pretty awesome, and I have one less unit in my schedule. I imagine that won't make much of a difference, but I still welcome it. I also do not currently have a job lined up, so that should be interesting. I am making less than hoped for progress with the sleep apnea, so it may be best to not have a job. The CPAP machine is helpful, but I can't sleep with it on, so that is problematic. I have another appointment with my sleep specialist on Monday, so hopefully we can figure out a plan. I also need to figure out what I will be doing this summer.

As for New Years resolutions, I kind of hate them. So much pressure and I usually crumble. I did try to put in place some post-Thanksgiving resolutions that will carry over and aren't going too badly. I am trying to eat dinner at a reasonable hour because last semester I was eating after class and 8:30 dinners make me cranky. I am also using my Wii Fit and going to the gym in my building more often because I really have no excuse not to. Oh, and I am trying to win back my soul from Starbucks, so I only want to buy beverages from them once a week at the most. So far, going pretty well. I make coffee at home, and Duchess bought me a coffee bean grinder so it is all fresh and delicious every morning. Success.

Wish me luck for the next five months. I miss you all.

it's what's for dinner

as of this morning, i have 1 application to graduate school submitted and 6 more to go. i did the first one in true undergrad fashion, waiting until the very last minute to write the personal statement and then hating it right before i clicked "send", immediately regretting having been so irresponsible as to procrastinate what feels like the most important paper of my life. to be fair, i spent months on my statement of purpose, which is different from the personal statement though they sound the same, and it's pretty damn good. i hope they don't care as much about the personal statement. it seemed like it was simply an opportunity to drop that i am African American woman from a low-income background, which, believe me, i did like it was hot.

this whole process is very confusing and stressful. i must have spent at least an hour this morning clicking obsessively through sections of the online forms over and over and over again. perhaps it's some kind of test of how meticulous we applicants are. God, listen to me! after months of preparing these essays, i can't stop writing in fucking iambic pentameter... BLEGGIDY-BLAH!

i'm looking forward to the new year. against the advice of such illustrious magazines as Marie Claire and the Onion, i have compiled a list of New Year's Resolutions...

1. no more than 1 serving of red meat per week. i'm currently 20 days into a month-long fast from cow and i feel so much better! although the Texan in me is crying out for a hot beef injection, so i can't keep this up for too much longer. simply reducing my intake should be a good compromise, right?

2. no more self-deprecating humor. it's both unfeminist and just a bad habit for adults who want to be taken seriously.

3. going to the gym at least 2 times per week. inspired by lauren and the $35/month that comes out of my paycheck automatically.

4. biking to the caltrain station instead of buying a $45 Muni pass every month. unless it rains, of course, because soggy is unprofessional.

we'll see if this works... post yours!!

*Yamanda

P.S. oh, and i'm dating someone. i haven't written about him because i've been treating this situation very superstitiously, but i like him a LOT.

Breaking Yam's Rules

I know I'm only supposed to post if it is over 250 words (or some rule like that). However, I don't have time to write a full post, so I just wanted to say that I miss you all and am really hoping that our reunion happens this summer. Not seeing Lo for over a year is completely unacceptable.

Back to contracts...

My Life and What You Should Be Watching

Hello lovely people!!



I've decided to break corporate rules and write a blog post during work. It's slow here at the bank, and I'm taking advantage. I've also managed to complete two crossword puzzles and am attempting to distract myself from going to get a Krispy Kreme doughnut left over from this morning's meeting. My life right now has worked itself into a pretty nice routine. I work well with routine, I've learned. There's something in the consistancy that can be quite appealling. Don't get me wrong though. I can relish in spontaneity just as well as the next person, but boredom can be a good thing at times. I'm still working out 5-6 times a week. I'm trying to eat healthier as well. Soccer season has started so I have games every Thursday night. Brittany and I went to an Obama rally at a local park. It was pretty fun. We sang along to songs that made fun of Palin which will always constitute a good time. A couple of weeks ago I went home to take a family photo. You can find these online for a limited time at www.photographybyallen.com/bailey. Just type in a name and email (don't worry, nothing gets sent to you).



Other news in my life is the new fall tv season!!! As all of you know, this time of the year excites me almost to no end. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, the new show line up has been cut in half due to last season's writer's strike. I thought I would share my thoughts on what you should be watching or illegally downloading to procrastinate. You're welcome!

THE NEW SHOWS TO WATCH

Privileged (Tues. 9pm, The CW)

So, this show is one of my new favorites. It stars JoAnna Garcia, and a quick imdb search will tell you that you may have seen her on Reba. Fortunately, in Privileged she doesn't get drowned out by Reba's voice or stuck in the glare of her smile. It's smart, witty and endearing. I'm highly enjoying it. It's about a recent Yale (or Harvard, can't remember) graduate (see, already relatable) who has been working for a tabloid magazine, but would like to write about more serious issues. Her boss realizes that she's not cut out for the tabloid world and sets her up with a job as a tutor to two high school heiresses in Palm Beach, FL (coincidentally, her hometown). The two girls' grandmother wants both girls to get into Duke, but the girls obviously have other priorities. That's the gist. All you really need to know is that it's good and you should watch it.

90210 (Monday 8pm, The CW)

Ok, so I never really got into Beverly Hills: 90210 back in the day. Sure I watched an occassional syndicated episode after school, but I never felt like hanging out with the Peach Pit Gang. I did however understand the pop cultural significance behind the show, so when I found out that they were bringing an updated version back to tv I had to check it out because I knew it was going to be awesome and by awesome I mean awesomely bad! During the first episode alone viewers are introduced to the troubled girl that meets her drug dealer in the school parking lot, the nice guy jock that still decides to cheat on his longtime girlfriend (we still consider him 'nice guy' bc he is the potential love interest of the small town new girl), a musical number from the Broadway Hit Spring Awakening, and small-town-new-girl's adopted black brother. And if all that is still not enough to check out one episode Arrested Development's Jessica Walter plays the alcoholic-used-up-actress grandmother. I probably should have started out with that fact. It would have been enough for me.

RETURNING FAVORITES

Mad Men (Sunday 10pm, AMC)

AMC's first tv drama series about an ad agency in the 1960s just won an Emmy. It's sophisticated, intriguing, and a breath of fresh air from the usual law/crime scene series. Not to mention the female actresses aren't skin and bones, some actually have curves!

The Office (Thursday 9pm, NBC)

Do I really have to explain? I didn't think so.

30 Rock (Thursday 9:30, NBC)

I am just catching up with this series, but Tina Fey is amazing and I have a whole month to get through season 2 before season 3 premiers at the end of Oct.

The Big Bang Theory (Monday 8:00, CBS)

Witty intelligent humor. We are all Stanford dorks and can appreciate the jokes.

Pushing Daisies (Wed. 8:00, ABC)

A cute wholesome show with just the right amount of quirkiness and heart.

Well, those are just a few that have my DVR working overtime lately. Some shows have yet to premiere, so the list goes on.

Alright, my stomach is grumbling. I'll settle for a Dunkin' Donuts doughnut hole.



Well, those are just a few. Some other will not air til