pears

hah, that's funny! i love the rhythm of his writing, and the poignancy and ennui he captures so well in his own quirky ways. i'm curious to see what i think of the new stuff! i really enjoyed hard-boiled wonderland and the end of the world. after dark is a relatively quick read, although i didn't totally fall in love with it the way i did with his other work. a wild sheep chase is fun, just to follow the evolution of his style. if you're looking for something new but want to stick in the murakami vein, i would recommend raymond carver and kenzaburo oe, whom he loved and was once criticized by, respectively.

i have a spreadsheet, too! my considerations include all the basics: fit, location, cost of tuition/fees, cost of housing, cost of travel, financial aid options (work study, TA/RA spots, etc.), lab and research facilities, research interests, courses (variety, number required), and job placement (and connections with federal agencies, as that's where i will hopefully be headed). i have them weighted separately, and sifted into general categories that i weighted, too. i tried to leave the more subjective things out, like proximity to my S.O., proximity to my family, availability of outdoor stuff, how well i mesh with students and professors, and so on. proximity to my family is a non-issue, as my parents' gift to me was to cover my travel costs whenever i see them; proximity to my S.O. is a mess, as it matters more to me, and he's bouncing around a lot for work. outdoor resources are a nice bonus. if i don't mesh at all with students or professors, the rest doesn't matter; i don't think i could be somewhere i felt totally out of place. it's hard to rank things like that! actually sitting down and looking at my spreadsheet has pretty much made my top 2 programs switch places, largely because of a huge cost difference (like.. at least $9000 a year kind of huge difference). now the issue is convincing my family that it's not because of its proximity (for now) to my S.O.

there are some good paleo cookie recipes out there that aren't terribly unhealthy! lots of coconut, if that's your thing. you can also modify lots of baked goods to include protein powder and such, like these guys: scone-muffin hybrids, complete with delicious blueberries and protein. i've even seen recipes for protein brownies and similar things. as long as you're fairly athletic and need a high protein intake anyway, there are definitely healthy sweets out there.

eager: definitely time for a happy dance party.

sounds like we have similar taste! how is IQ84? i haven't gotten to it yet (thanks, workload) but i'm a big murakami fan. i'm actually considering incorporating a personalized take on a "wind-up bird" into a future tattoo! i'm glad to see all the love for hiaasen and YA books in here! my mom works for a big YA/children's book publishing company, and i often worry about the future of books; it's becoming much more about making money and keeping up with technology, rather than choosing the highest quality art and writing. her apartment is full of beautiful art, and books were a huge part of my upbringing, right down to being the source of my love for archaeology. glad to see her stuff and YA books in general are still getting lots of love.

+1. upvoted for the name (lithics nerd ahoy!) and location. iowaguy: it's all good and fine for (qualified, motivated, etc.) people who intend to pursue academia sooner rather than later, but for those of us who intend to continue "pounding the ground," it's rough. i'm taking my sweet time moving towards a PhD, but i really hope the funding climate will be better by the time i'm applying to grad schools again. i don't want to get weeded out just because i don't intend to dip my toes in the academic waters until i'm too old or too burnt out to be in the field 24/7. that said, i have an extremely tenuous grasp on how PhD programs look at applications and how they weight applicants' career goals, so maybe i'll be okay, too!

getting back in shape, for sure! joined my local YMCA recently, since they gave me some financial aid. totally stoked to be sweating out all my emotions again! also trying to eat better. my goal is to be the same weight as i was a couple of years ago (read: before my metabolism hit a brick wall and the beer started winning..), but to have a lot more muscle. i'd rather be strong than skinny! especially since my S.O. is a firefighter- he's crazy in shape, so i always feel like i have to catch up to him! i'm also nurturing my inner adrenaline junkie. every weekend has involved something outdoorsy: long road/mountain bike rides, snowboarding, sailing, bouldering, moto/dirt biking, and so on. nothing to take your mind off decisions like a huge rush of energy following some slightly questionable decisions.

new girl

sansao- hey now, at least you have a spring break! some of us poor souls are trapped in the office while it gets warmer and sunnier outside! best of luck though! here's to hoping you get some good news soon so you can take a deep breath and get some r-and-r!

to those debating whether to go to a rodeo: do iiit! you will regret nothing. (just be sure to have a reserve of whiskey and bud heavy.)

i only applied to terminal MA programs, most of which had deadlines between 1/1 and 1/15. i haven't had a single interview yet- just informal chats by email, phone, or skype with POIs. i was actually in the middle of writing the ASC for a program yesterday when i got my acceptance email, so it probably doesn't hurt to ask! as long as 6 weeks have passed since the submission deadline, there's really nothing wrong with it. worst that happens is they're swamped and can't respond for a bit.

LOUD NOISE(S)

this weekend, i met my S.O.'s family for the first time- his parents own a store dedicated to every sort of new age thing you can imagine (crystals, meditation, yoga, astrology, incense, and so on), and although he doesn't buy into it, i'm intrigued by it all, so i let his parents tell me about my astrology (natal chart), totem animals, crystals, etc., just for the heck of it. in short: i was told that a "chronic illness" recently cleared up, and they gave me a few stones for luck, among other things, and told me that i would have a dream that would answer a question that'd been on my mind for a while. a couple weeks ago, my doctor confirmed that i was 100% rid of a chronic illness that i've been dealing with for a few years, and last night, on the train home, i had a vivid dream that i got accepted to my second choice program via email. i got an acceptance email this afternoon from the same program. dang, universe. you freaky.

i consider myself a sports person, but i don't really understand some sports people, either! i guess that means i'm more of an archaeology person than a sports person, haha! i wonder whether someone talking smack about my favorite teams or someone claiming aliens are responsible for various ancient structures would tick me off more...

study buddy

definitely true. including about 2 dinners out and "lazy" meals (e.g., amy's microwave dishes), my food costs in san francisco float around the $300 mark per month. without dining out, it'd be around $200-$250, which is nothing compared to NYC, but about the same as boston. when i lived in rural central virginia, my coworkers and i ate out once a week, but $175 or so got me through the month there. then, there was australia, where $300 was about as cheap as i could get, despite 2-3 free meals a week at work. i actually plan on asking about food costs in addition to rent, once i start contacting programs' current students; it's one of those things that has a huge impact on spending (along with travel costs), but is hard to get a true sense of until you're already settled in.

aetaival- CUNY/hunter us the last school i'm waiting on. i may send them an email today; i just received my acceptance to my second choice program(!!!), but they want my response by the end of this month. CUNY is a bit notorious for taking a while to send out decisions at all levels, so if i hear anything, i'll let you know. i submitted my materials by the 1/15 priority deadline for the MA in archaeology.

congrats powertorest! and right back atcha, radiomars. anthropology and all its subfields seem to have a somewhat different app process compared to the more "common" fields around here, so it's nice to have a group of awesome, supportive people who totally get it.

you should send them this as an attachment, and have the body of the email be a modified version of the rejection you received, if you got a letter/email.

the more i hear about the admissions process for hard sciences -- i.e., the lab and publication politicking -- the more respect i have for the posters on here and my friends who are grad students (past, present, and future) in bio, chem, physics, etc. talk about a high pressure, delicately balanced process! woof. i think i'd have a hard time getting through it all with my self confidence intact still, so power to ya.

probably the same reason; i don't think the program has sent out any rejections either, although i could be wrong. or there could've been a first wave of "first tier rejections" aka "oh heeeell naw"s that simply weren't posted on the results page. i know about a dozen applicants in my field (and related fields) applying for both MA and PhD programs who either don't know of or don't use this site. you never know!

i know that this is the exact position i'm in for a school- not so much "waitlisted" as "second tier of picks, acceptance pending based on number of offer acceptances from first tier picks." i should hear back around 4/1. patience is a virtue, i guess, and i'm just happy that it's not a flat-out rejection!

i've encountered many, many people who confuse sociology with.. well, pretty much everything, but mostly anthropology and psychology.