WINE, WAIT, AND WHINE THREAD

[Neist]

Just now, FoxAndChicken said:

I didn't understand commas or how they worked until I took Latin and learned about different types of clauses. O.o

I'm pretty sure proper comma usage is a dying art.  I've edited a lot text in my life (I was a copy editor for a short while), and I'm pretty certain very, very few people know how to properly use commas. 

I've been grading essays for an upper division history course, and when I see someone using a comma before a conjunction that does not connect two independent clauses, I want to slap someone. That's pretty basic Comma 101. 

[FoxAndChicken]

18 minutes ago, bugabooo said:

I'm laughing so much (in a Starbucks, where people totally saw). I had a very similar experience as a freshman in high school, but my teacher knew my situation and kept quiet about my progress. He just gave me more advanced work on the sly. My older sibling was nearly a teenager when we went to public schools, so they retained much more of the language. I'm definitely jealous of that. Then add in the random differences in my family's language style and what I was being taught... Yikes. The vocabulary was helpful, but even my dad can't always conjugate words "properly" and Spanish is his first language. That's just not how language is learned naturally, I think. 

It sounds like my school was like yours a lot! Sometimes in race and ethnicity boxes I was to write "ethnically confused." I wrote an angsty poem about it once, which is about the extent of my creativity.

17 minutes ago, Neist said:

I'm pretty sure proper comma usage is a dying art.  I've edited a lot text in my life (I was a copy editor for a short while), and I'm pretty certain very, very few people know how to properly use commas. 

I've been grading essays for an upper division history course, and when I see someone using a comma before a conjunction that does not connect two independent clauses, I want to slap someone. That's pretty basic Comma 101. 

We did peer reviewing in a class like a week ago and I was like "Oh gosh. I don't know what I'll do if I have to grade essays in graduate school. I would want to fail so many people..." 

[gingin6789]

3 hours ago, bugabooo said:

I wake up due to hunger almost every night between 2-4am. I just keep snacks near my bed so I don't wake up my whole apartment messing around in the kitchen. It gets worse with stress... so obvi I've been waking up every single night lately. Trail mix is a go-to item. I stopped fighting my body on this a long time ago, since I'd rather snack than lose sleep because my stomach is growling!

That's a good idea! I do live alone, so luckily I don't have to worry about waking anyone else. I'm much better at resisting the snack if I'm with my husband! I'd worry too much about waking him lol.

Trail mix is a good idea! I've been trying to stick to granola bars, but my husband sent me a giant bucket of cookies for V-Day, and they've been hard to resist!

[Neist]

2 minutes ago, FoxAndChicken said:

We did peer reviewing in a class like a week ago and I was like "Oh gosh. I don't know what I'll do if I have to grade essays in graduate school. I would want to fail so many people..." 

I've just been grading on a very steep informal curve. A paper has to be fairly stupendous to impress me, but it'd have to be fairly terrible to warrant failing (e.g., nigh unreadable).

What's really surprised me is that I don't consider myself an amazing writer, but once you start grading dozens of papers from almost-peers, I've came to the conclusion that I'm probably a very high top percentage. I still don't consider myself talented, but everyone else apparently has no skill for writing whatsoever.  

[Dr. Brains]

Just got back from recruitment weekend. How long does it usually take to hear back?

[nightfarmer]

1 hour ago, sjoh197 said:

Its 80 here today.... and tomorrow... and every day until next week. I miss seeing snow sometimes. 

And after spending 2 years doing an MA in Ohio, I miss seeing real snow...

[BooksCoffeeBeards]

@bugabooo - oh dear god, the REAL up north part of Michigan. I haven't been that way in almost 10 years...and I used to live in Ann Arbor @FoxAndChicken!! I moved there for a couple years after completing my MA at BGSU in 2009. I went to Eastern Michigan for undergrad too, so I would frequent Ann Arbor during my time there.

I grew up in a white suburb of Detroit (Royal Oak), and now live in a small, white suburb of Flint...

I sense a pattern. :|

[sjoh197]

19 minutes ago, BooksCoffeeBeards said:

@bugabooo - oh dear god, the REAL up north part of Michigan. I haven't been that way in almost 10 years...and I used to live in Ann Arbor @FoxAndChicken!! I moved there for a couple years after completing my MA at BGSU in 2009. I went to Eastern Michigan for undergrad too, so I would frequent Ann Arbor during my time there.

I grew up in a white suburb of Detroit (Royal Oak), and now live in a small, white suburb of Flint...

I sense a pattern. :|

HAHA I grew up near royal oak with my dad.... we would go into town for bike night  and my dad would always take me to Hooters and one of the local ice cream places. And every time we left Hooters he would say "That is why you have to go to college.... if you don't go to college you'll end up working at Hooters."

I also lived with my mom in a very ghetto-ey part of town in Ypsi for a long time. 

[Dr. Brains]

1 minute ago, sjoh197 said:

HAHA I grew up near royal oak with my dad.... we would go into town for bike night  and my dad would always take me to Hooters and one of the local ice cream places. And every time we left Hooters he would say "That is why you have to go to college.... if you don't go to college you'll end up working at Hooters."

I also lived with my mom in a very ghetto-ey part of town in Ypsi for a long time. 

I'm from West Bloomfield! I currently live in Ann Arbor/Ypsi area Nice to know there are lots of Michiganders on here!

[The Interdisciplinarian]

@raaawr, Mindy can have her stuffy grumpy Danny, so long as Jeremy remains available. Hee hee.

@Neist, which program do you fear is rejecting you? Did they email you in a way that was worrying?

 

Ugh, emaillllll, why do you stay still and silent??

I found out a friend of mine who I don't think uses GradCafe got rejected from her first choice PhD site. Over the freaking weekend. Ugh. THOSE EMAILS COULD COME ANYTIME, PEOPLE. WEEKENDS ARE NO LONGER SAFE.

[MarineBluePsy]

8 hours ago, raaawr said:

Ohhh I watch Life in Pieces too. It's like Modern Family but not completely, and I also like Modern Family. Lol. Ah, yes, if it's not obvious yet, I am Raaawr and I am a couch potato. Lol!

I wish they didn't turn Jeremy into a kind of joke though. He was decent at the start then he just started turning into this mess. Whatever happened to the mindy project. Lol. Are you all caught up in season 4?

Yep I've seen every episode at least a dozen times lol.  I'm curious to see what is next for Jeremy's character.  Will he go back to being a ladies man?  Will we see his father around more?

I'm also wondering if they're going to keep Jody and Colette.  The show seems to have a habit of introducing new characters that seem like a great addition, not using them enough, and then getting rid of them because they don't fit.  All of Mindy's gal pals met that fate as did most of the female employees at Schulman and Associates.

Life in Pieces is also hilarious.  It's like Modern Family meets Parenthood.

[raaawr]

1 minute ago, The Interdisciplinarian said:

@raaawr, Mindy can have her stuffy grumpy Danny, so long as Jeremy remains available. Hee hee.

Ugh, emaillllll, why do you stay still and silent??

I found out a friend of mine who I don't think uses GradCafe got rejected from her first choice PhD site. Over the freaking weekend. Ugh. THOSE EMAILS COULD COME ANYTIME, PEOPLE. WEEKENDS ARE NO LONGER SAFE.

True!!! lol!

I am getting major anxiety over here. My heart just sinks whenever I look at my 'no new messages' email. My brain is constantly telling me I won't get accepted so I shouldn't dare think about grad school anymore but then it also keeps "hallucinating" that I would bathe in the glory of an acceptance letter so then my brain would start fantasizing about things I would do if i get accepted but then again my brain will decide to shut my dreams down again by telling me what I'm thinking of is impossible. Yup, I am crazy. haha!

[Neist]

2 minutes ago, The Interdisciplinarian said:

 

@Neist, which program do you fear is rejecting you? Did they email you in a way that was worrying?

RPI STS. There's been three posted acceptances, all reported on Feb.4-6. About a week later I sent them an email querying the status of departmental decisions, and it's been crickets ever since. Never heard a word.  

There's a possibility that I could still get into that program (because my application status has never been changed to rejected), but considering it's been a while and STS programs usually only matriculate a small handful of people, I say the odds are unlikely. If I had to presume, they probably have sent out their acceptances and have largely ignored everyone else.  Also, it's not like funding issues would hold up informing people. RPI STS seems to notify you of acceptance and, at a later point, inform you of funding.

I'm not sweating it too much. The primary POI I had at RPI was a lecturer, not a faculty member. However, on their departmental website said he was interested in taking on students interested in topics closely aligning with my own. Even so, I'm not sure how much pull a lecturer has pulling in students.

[raaawr]

8 minutes ago, MarineBluePsy said:

Yep I've seen every episode at least a dozen times lol.  I'm curious to see what is next for Jeremy's character.  Will he go back to being a ladies man?  Will we see his father around more?

I'm also wondering if they're going to keep Jody and Colette.  The show seems to have a habit of introducing new characters that seem like a great addition, not using them enough, and then getting rid of them because they don't fit.  All of Mindy's gal pals met that fate as did most of the female employees at Schulman and Associates.

Life in Pieces is also hilarious.  It's like Modern Family meets Parenthood.

I read something before that the reason they weren't keeping female cast members was because Mindy Kaling didn't want non Mindy Kaling girls on the show so I think she just wrote them out or just made them disappear completely like her friends from season 1. lol!

What else do you watch? Baby Daddy? Black-ish? How to Get Away with Murder? Elementary? 2 Broke Girls? I feel like we have the same taste in shows. lol

[nevermind]

37 minutes ago, Neist said:

I'm not sweating it too much. The primary POI I had at RPI was a lecturer, not a faculty member. However, on their departmental website said he was interested in taking on students interested in topics closely aligning with my own. Even so, I'm not sure how much pull a lecturer has pulling in students.

I suspect this was (one of) my downfalls with Yale (well, that and the dept. was geared more toward medicine/biology than env. history).  I don't think a lecturer has a ton of pull, since they aren't hired on as TT faculty and will likely be pursuing other opportunities before your PhD is finished (unless they have some other reason for staying around). 

...Ugh. Just checked my remaining school's academic calendars...they're closed (except Oregon) today. Better luck for me tomorrow, I guess.

Edited February 15, 2016 by nevermind

[MarineBluePsy]

1 minute ago, raaawr said:

I read something before that the reason they weren't keeping female cast members was because Mindy Kaling didn't want non Mindy Kaling girls on the show so I think she just wrote them out or just made them disappear completely like her friends from season 1. lol!

What else do you watch? Baby Daddy? Black-ish? How to Get Away with Murder? Elementary? 2 Broke Girls? I feel like we have the same taste in shows. lol

Well from what I've gathered after reading her two books she doesn't have tons of female friends in real life.  I don't think that's a bad thing, just maybe its not easy to find women she jives with and that could spill over into work.  Also the entertainment world is pretty cutthroat and she worked hard to design and launch the show.  I kinda get why she may want the focus on her rather than doing that whole help a sister out thing.

Lets see other shows I'm digging right now, meaning go out of my way to watch on time, include....Quantico, Criminal Minds, How to Get Away with Murder, Grey's Anatomy, The Big Bang Theory, New Girl, Younger, The Mysteries of Laura, The Fosters, and Young & Hungry.  A couple of those may change because the plot lines have just gotten odd.  Like what's up with New Girl?  I get that Zooey had a baby, but the show is weird without her and I don't like Megan Fox at all.  I have this weird feeling The Big Bang Theory is winding down which is irritating because Shamy just got interesting.  And that whole brother switcheroo on Young & Hungry was icky.  Those tv execs need to quit messing with my crack!

[raaawr]

1 minute ago, MarineBluePsy said:

Well from what I've gathered after reading her two books she doesn't have tons of female friends in real life.  I don't think that's a bad thing, just maybe its not easy to find women she jives with and that could spill over into work.  Also the entertainment world is pretty cutthroat and she worked hard to design and launch the show.  I kinda get why she may want the focus on her rather than doing that whole help a sister out thing.

Lets see other shows I'm digging right now, meaning go out of my way to watch on time, include....Quantico, Criminal Minds, How to Get Away with Murder, Grey's Anatomy, The Big Bang Theory, New Girl, Younger, The Mysteries of Laura, The Fosters, and Young & Hungry.  A couple of those may change because the plot lines have just gotten odd.  Like what's up with New Girl?  I get that Zooey had a baby, but the show is weird without her and I don't like Megan Fox at all.  I have this weird feeling The Big Bang Theory is winding down which is irritating because Shamy just got interesting.  And that whole brother switcheroo on Young & Hungry was icky.  Those tv execs need to quit messing with my crack!

I saw her book and BJ Novak's book before at the bookstore and I've been meaning to buy them but I'll probably just get an ebook instead. lol True, she did work hard on that show so I'm not complaining that she's basically the only girl there. haha. 

I watched the pilot of Younger and the first season of Young & Hungry and I have yet to catch up. lol! I love Shamy! I love how little Sheldon is finally growing up. I'm actually wearing my "Bazinga!" shirt right now. haha! I like that they stopped focusing on Penny and Leonard's relationship though. I was getting sick of Penny constantly dumping poor Leonard so I'm glad they're finally married. As for New Girl, not the biggest fan of Megan Fox either and her character is like the Anti-Jess so Zooey needs to gets back on the show asap. I also want Jess back so we can have more John Cho scenes cause he's such a cutie! haha! 

[gingin6789]

Hi All,

I figure a lot of you are more well-traveled than me. I didn't get on my first plane til I was 21 (5 years ago). I've only been on two trips via airplane, total. My family never traveled much. I've lived in PA all my life, and the farthest west I've been is Nashville, farthest east New Jersey, farthest north was New York, farthest south was North Carolina.

Sooo ... the fact that I'm visiting six states over the span of just as many weeks is pretty amazing for me. 

It's also a bit daunting.

I was wondering: What sort of essential travel tips would you give to the unseasoned traveler?

[BooksCoffeeBeards]

1 hour ago, sjoh197 said:

HAHA I grew up near royal oak with my dad.... we would go into town for bike night  and my dad would always take me to Hooters and one of the local ice cream places. And every time we left Hooters he would say "That is why you have to go to college.... if you don't go to college you'll end up working at Hooters."

I also lived with my mom in a very ghetto-ey part of town in Ypsi for a long time. 

I remember bike nights. I never went; I just remembered them occurring.

1 hour ago, Dr. Brains said:

I'm from West Bloomfield! I currently live in Ann Arbor/Ypsi area Nice to know there are lots of Michiganders on here!

My dad coached HS soccer in West Bloomfield for a couple years recently!

[raaawr]

11 minutes ago, gingin6789 said:

Hi All,

I figure a lot of you are more well-traveled than me. I didn't get on my first plane til I was 21 (5 years ago). I've only been on two trips via airplane, total. My family never traveled much. I've lived in PA all my life, and the farthest west I've been is Nashville, farthest east New Jersey, farthest north was New York, farthest south was North Carolina.

Sooo ... the fact that I'm visiting six states over the span of just as many weeks is pretty amazing for me. 

It's also a bit daunting.

I was wondering: What sort of essential travel tips would you give to the unseasoned traveler?

are you visiting all 6 states consecutively or are you going to one state then home then another state then home and so on? I would suggest to pack light and get one of those small but spacious (but still fits on the accepted carry-on luggage dimensions) luggage bag with the wheels so you don't have to check in your luggage and wait around the baggage claim every time and it's easy to lug around.

[Neist]

53 minutes ago, nevermind said:

I suspect this was (one of) my downfalls with Yale (well, that and the dept. was geared more toward medicine/biology than env. history).  I don't think a lecturer has a ton of pull, since they aren't hired on as TT faculty and will likely be pursuing other opportunities before your PhD is finished (unless they have some other reason for staying around). 

...Ugh. Just checked my remaining school's academic calendars...they're closed (except Oregon) today. Better luck for me tomorrow, I guess.

Oh the woes of having obscure interests!

In other news, I got an unfunded acceptance at U. of Ok. The university has had huge budget shortfalls, so I'm not really surprised, but it's still a bit of a bummer. It was a good fit for me.

[gingin6789]

Just now, raaawr said:

are you visiting all 6 states consecutively or are you going to one state then home then another state then home and so on? I would suggest to pack light and get one of those small but spacious (but still fits on the accepted carry-on luggage dimensions) luggage bag with the wheels so you don't have to check in your luggage and wait around the baggage claim every time and it's easy to lug around.

It's more like one state, then home, and so on. For one of the trips, I might not even be there overnight, so that's good!

Thank you for the advice! I actually had a small suitcase, but my gran usurped it haha. So, I'm on the lookout for another one.

[sjoh197]

14 minutes ago, gingin6789 said:

Hi All,

I figure a lot of you are more well-traveled than me. I didn't get on my first plane til I was 21 (5 years ago). I've only been on two trips via airplane, total. My family never traveled much. I've lived in PA all my life, and the farthest west I've been is Nashville, farthest east New Jersey, farthest north was New York, farthest south was North Carolina.

Sooo ... the fact that I'm visiting six states over the span of just as many weeks is pretty amazing for me. 

It's also a bit daunting.

I was wondering: What sort of essential travel tips would you give to the unseasoned traveler?

I am a very frequent traveler... at least compared to many. I assume you will be flying?

I agree with raaawr, get the full size carry on and pack lighter. Also... if it is a full flight, small regional jet, or you just don't want more hassle... you can plane side check the bag for free and they will send it straight on to your destination just like a checked bag... but without the fee. 

Rolling you clothes, rather than traditional folding, will keep more of your clothing from getting wrinkled. Wear comfy clothes on a plane... try shoes without laces, no belt, and no jewelry is best and fastest. 

Wear one headphone at the airport with music playing softly. If someone tries to swipe your phone from you pocket/ bag it will disconnect the jack and you will know immediately. 

[MarineBluePsy]

18 minutes ago, gingin6789 said:

Hi All,

I figure a lot of you are more well-traveled than me. I didn't get on my first plane til I was 21 (5 years ago). I've only been on two trips via airplane, total. My family never traveled much. I've lived in PA all my life, and the farthest west I've been is Nashville, farthest east New Jersey, farthest north was New York, farthest south was North Carolina.

Sooo ... the fact that I'm visiting six states over the span of just as many weeks is pretty amazing for me. 

It's also a bit daunting.

I was wondering: What sort of essential travel tips would you give to the unseasoned traveler?

I was over 21 the first time I took a plane anywhere and still haven't traveled much.  I would suggest getting a neck pillow.  Those seats are terrible and your muscles will thank you for the added support.  Mine was so comfy I was able to sleep quite comfortably with it.  Bring hand sanitizer, kleenex, a non perishable snack, and something to read on the plane.  On your layovers don't sit down the entire time.  It is very important that you walk around and stretch to keep your circulation going.

[raaawr]

1 minute ago, gingin6789 said:

It's more like one state, then home, and so on. For one of the trips, I might not even be there overnight, so that's good!

Thank you for the advice! I actually had a small suitcase, but my gran usurped it haha. So, I'm on the lookout for another one.

When I go from state to state for just a few days I always stay away from check-in baggage cause it's just additional airport hassle. lol! Just bring a small carry-on and you're good to go  ah! don't forget, no liquids! it would be a shame to lose a bottle of lotion to the airport garbage bag. haha!