Hello 2010

Happy New Year everybody!

Have I mentioned that I play Dungeons and Dragons? My New Year's celebration consisted of a good solid five hour DnD session with my nearest and dearest. My man and I took a train from KC to St. Louis to hang out for a long DnD-filled weekend. It was most excellent, the only trip I've made for the holidays, and fuel for the DnD fire. We came away with tons of ideas for new campaigns.

On a related note, if you're planning to ride Amtrak, and you have the money, splurge on business class. It's quite pleasant, with nicer seats, easy access to the Cafe Car, and more room. Train travel reminded me that it's great to get where you're going without having to worry about road conditions, getting lost, and buying gas. One thing though: pack a snack. The train food is mostly packaged and microwaved. None too appetizing.

And the craft cabinet is RED! Bien sur! J'adore rouge! Seriously, between the craft cabinet, the drapes, and the new floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, I definitely need to take pictures! Some day soon! Lawrence is horribly cold though, hovering around 0 degrees fahrenheit. It has been for the past three weeks, and it's going to be for at least the next 10 days. The cold makes me grumpy and more than a little un-inspired.

The next bit of news: I got A's in my classes! What what?! I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the awesome people who helped out with my research project. Thank you THANK YOU! I wrote two research papers on Outfit of the Day blogs, and apparently they were both well received, since I pulled lovely final grades in the classes. Man, what a relief.

This coming semester my tentative plans are to dig deeper into researching the blogosphere. I might focus particularly on the issues bloggers face with the new legislation regarding sponsored posts. That would widen the lens to include blogs of many types, which my thesis advisor thinks is a necessary step to make the work weighty.

Also, do many of you read Fashionable Academics? I think I'm going to participate in their call for pictures of 1st day of class outfits. Seems fun!

Finals Week

Well. One paper down, one written test and one more paper to go. And of course, I can't bring myself to write much until I read a few more articles. Just a few more. Always just a few more.

There is quite alot of victory in having one paper down though. It was chock full of good interview quotes and interesting theories, if I do say so myself. I hope my professors agree.

The most exciting news of all is that tonight I get my craft cabinet! My husband and I commissioned a cabinet to be made to store my sewing machine, all my fabrics, yarn and sewing supplies, my knitting stuff, my collage clippings, my card supplies, and on and on. You know: the crafties! So the cabinet is getting delivered to our house tonight!!!! YAY! Better than a Christmas tree in so many ways!

The good news is, we will have to paint it, and I need to pick out a color. That will prevent me from spending tonight locating, organizing, sorting, and finding spots for all my crafties. That project really does not need to be distracting me from the reading and writing that has to get done by Thursday. THURSDAY!

Le sigh.

Writing

I'm writing! The writing has begun!

Yes, yes, I realize that blogging is writing as well, but that's not the only writing I'm doing.

I've decided to compose two pages a night, which, if I can maintain it, will get the whole paper written with a couple days to spare for edits and reorganization. Plus, two pages a night is such a nice, rightly-sized chunk.

Tonight the topic is Foucault, OOTD blogging, and care of the self. Woot!

Man, if I can, I really ought to just take one wee little picture tomorrow. Something to spruce up this monotonous blog space of mine.

Busy Thankful

Late night web ramblings are rarely decent the next morning. But in the holiday spirit, I'm thankful for time to get work done. And for the willingness to get work done. I have one paper due on December 9th, and a second paper due on December 17th, both on the research I've been doing. It feels like there's so much to do, yet I'm pretty happy with what I've been able to get to so far.

Tomorrow a little trip to see some family, and then, for the rest of the weekend: work work work. Could be a truly fruitful weekend.

Research In Progress

I seriously can't tell you how excited I am to be doing my first ever interview today. In sociology you can pretty much decide to go in one of these directions for research methods:

• theory
• qualitative
• quantitative
• mix of the above
  

So far I've done a bit of quantitative and a bit of theory, but this will be my first foray into qualitative research; doing interviews.

My research question: how is identity situated in relationship to the process of blogging daily outfits?

I have found online many brilliant women engaging in this activity and I want to know more about how it all works. So today I'll start to learn, then I'll do more interviews on Friday and some on Saturday and maybe with this work, I'll be able to get a better understanding of the question.

Sewing like a madwoman

Man! I just:

• Cleaned the feed dogs on my sewing machine
• Finished sewing a drapery for my living room
• Hemmed a pair of work slacks
• Fixed the back of a work dress

Oh, and before that:

• Folded laundry
• Got a new air filter for the house

I am all kinds of accomplished. It's amazing what a great sewing machine and excellent lessons can do for you! When I was learning, just a couple of months ago, I was pretty fearful that once my teacher wasn't around I would see that I really couldn't do projects on my own.

But dude! I can! It's insanity.

This is a totally a post that should have pictures, but I'm now tired and ready to tune out and watch football.

Class Project: You

Hey! I wanted to give you all an update!

Remember in August when I posted about possibly doing a research project on fashion blogs? Well, the dream is coming to fruition.

So, for the next phase of the project, I am hoping to talk with people who:

• keep a blog and
• post pictures of their outfits on their blogs

I am considering either having these conversations by phone, or by instant message. I anticipate them being approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour long.

That means you! Ela, Annie, Lar, Cath, Christen, Megan, Esme, Christine, Katy, Krystal, Jessica, Robyn, Heshka, Jenni: you are the project inspiration. You're doing something unique, and I'd like to talk to you about it, and analyze it a little bit within the sociological framework, based on information you can provide. I know you're not the only women doing this, so if you don't want to participate, but you know someone who might, that would be great as well.

Also: Bijou Living: I know you don't fit within my qualifications, but you have had a really interesting take on this project, and I would love to interview you as well.

If you're interested, let me know. You can leave a comment or email me at SophiePinkCheeks@gmail.com.

Ah, the life of a graduate student, right? You people ROCK!

Emily

My Peeps

These are my favorite people in the world.

Photo credit: Russ.

From L to R: Steph, me, Natalie, CK. Awww...

In other news, grad school is so overwhelmingly monopolizing my life, that I can't think straight any more, and I can't sleep through the night either. So. Yeah, blogging is pretty pointless because nothing makes sense any longer. That is all.

Time Management

If there's one thing I'm learning about the combination of being almost 30, a full time grad student and a full time office employee, it's that time management is crucial. One notably important aspect of managing time in a busy life is leaving room for doing nothing.

It is almost true that I should be reading and studying in every spare minute. However, the three-day Labor Day weekend is providing a respite, and I am taking every advantage. Today I mowed the lawn, watched a movie, went for a walk, sat on the porch and yeah, just generally did nothing. I didn't read. I did drink beers. That is it.

Granted, one other interesting thing about my day today is that it is the first day of Kansas football season. I don't care for American football. I love college basketball, and I like men's soccer (the true football), and that's about all the room I have in my life to pay attention to sports. So why would it matter that today is the beginning of KU football season? Because I live little more than a block from the stadium. Heh. It's been a trip.

My husband and I bought this house in February, and we knew it was going to be crazy come this time of year. People have been asking us if we will sell parking spots. It's a small town and a big sport. Folks come from all the neighboring towns and cities to watch the local college football games. The college kids drink, tailgate, act out, and throw horse shoes. It's not my deal, but I do love spontaneous neighborhood parties. They're weird and neat. They don't happen in suburbia. They smell like barbeque. They start at 11 am and go until the game at 6 pm. It's just oddly interesting.

So no articles, no books, lots of blog reading, lots of general whatever. Letting the mind wander. It needed the fresh air.