Tuesday, March 29, 2005

10 things I learned over spring break

I learned a few things over the break:

1. You can get a lot more work done when you don't have to go to classes or teach. You can also get a lot less work done.

2. Movies in the middle of the week are fun. Robots was a pretty dumb movie however.

3. I can still fall asleep in movies during break with a bunch of people I don't know well. How well I know the people is no determining factor in my ability to fall asleep or stay awake.

4. Playing Settlers of Catan is a good game to break the ice when you introduce your boyfriend to your mother, especially if you win (well it's always a good game when you win)

5. Four hour naps everyday are good on break weeks too!

6. You can go to Chicagoland to go to church on Easter Sunday. Churches are open, but the mall is closed. So much for the religion of consumerism.

7. If you decide to get married and change your name, you better make sure you save multiple copies of that marriage certificate, even if you get divorced. Otherwise, if you're like my mom and your wallet gets stolen two days before you have to fly somewhere, you'll only get a new driver's license if you beg and find the mercy of a compassionate supervisor. Without a driver's license, you can fly even with an expired photo ID, but you cannot rent a car.

8. K's Merchandise deeply discounts Fiestaware and sells individual pieces.

9. The colors turquoise, scarlet, orange, yellow, rose, and shamrock look awesome together.

10. And of course, spring break is never long enough!

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

CCCC in San Francisco

Well, it's Spring Break, so a little bit of a blog update is possible. I'm very glad to be back from San Francisco. It was a good trip, but going to a conference in a city is far less fun than actually vacationing in that city. I spent 3 days in sessions, and only 1 seeing the city. Plus, there were a lot of people and I get overwhelmed by too many people. It was nice to see some old friends and meet some interesting professors, but I am really glad to be back.

My presentation went well, although it was at the same time as an entire panel on medical issues, so there was nobody interested in my topic at my panel. That's ok though because I didn't have to field any questions. And the people at CCCC and ATTW are really nice, which makes presenting much more relaxing.

Thursday I got to see Matthew, Eli, and Jason (friends & professors from Philly & Tampa) as well as go to the Writing Studies reception Thursday night. I worked hard to introduce myself to professors I hadn't yet met and get their feedback on my interests. Most everyone I talked to gave good feedback and seemed positive about my research which was encouraging. I went to dinner with Writing Studies folks Thursday night.

Friday it rained and I went to sessions all day, but then felt really anti-social so I ate dinner at Whole Foods (awesome grocery store) and went to bed early.

Saturday I met a friend for lunch in El Cerrito (near Berkeley), and went to City Lights, the best bookstore ever. I carried 6 really heavy book about 1.5 miles back to my hotel. Saturday night I went to dinner with conference folks again, and did some shopping.

I was so happy to come home and see my cats and my boyfriend (Darren) and cook in my own kitchen again. I did learn a lot from the sessions I attended, but it's nice to be on break and hopefully relax a little this week. My mom is coming to visit on Friday which should be really nice.

CCCC is in Chicago next year, so that means I'm definitely going!

Monday, March 14, 2005

WMNF

Well, as you know, I love singer-songwriters, folk music, independent artists, acoustic music, etc. When I lived in Florida, I listened to WMNF every morning, and the show totally lifted my spirits, as I was angry all the time because of the Bushes (who are very present in Florida). The morning show has great music and great news every half hour. What more could you ask for? I hope that if I ever get a show on WEFT, I will model it after the morning show on WMNF (which I guest hosted once).

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I pledged and am getting this awesome t-shirt.

Friday, March 11, 2005

FYI conference presentation update

I have a lot of good stuff in my head right now for my conference presentation. The question is, can I get it out onto paper in 35 minutes? The answer is, let's post something to my blog.

I love Google news.

Also, here is my conference proposal so you can get a taste of the good things to come.

Technical Communication Research and Public Healthcare Interests


In this talk, I will address the technical communication field’s current move to better position our work in the public sphere through a discussion of my current research of medical records as socially constructed and positioned technical documents. I will discuss possible directions for the field to shift toward work that explores technical documents in a private sphere which are highly relevant to public policy debates. These possible directions might more effectively explore the ways in which these private documents might function for public audiences. My research involves medical records (specifically private patient charts) as a form of technical communication that is central in the healthcare of all individuals. I will first outline the ways medical records qualify as a form of technical communication, and then I will begin to deal with the ways that various agents (doctors, nurses, lawyers, insurance companies, legislators) take up these private documents into public spaces for multiple purposes.

This talk will examine the ways that private healthcare documents and research into their uses in public spaces can reposition the technical communication field to address issues that are relevant to public audiences and public policy.

Sunday, March 06, 2005

too much to do

A word of advice:

If you decide to go to graduate school and you want to get a job as a professor in the field of Writing Studies/Rhetoric/Composition, this means you must do things like attend conferences. Our biggest conference, CCCC, happens right around Spring Break during the spring semester. What does this mean for a graduate student who is presenting at this conference (or in my case, ATTW, a conference for teachers of technical writing that is taking place at the same time)?

This means you will have to write a paper. But don't forget, you will still have to keep up with all your classes and research for the papers you are completing for your coursework. You will also have to continue teaching, and grading papers, and showing up for class (not to mention prepping). And you will also have to fulfill your other obligations: member of English Graduate Students Exec Committee, union member concerned about health care, singer in choir, taker of yoga classes, person who occasionally goes to church, etc. etc. etc. And perhaps your roommate might move out in the middle of things and so you'd have to purchase all those items that are now missing from your drawers, just so you could function day to day. All of this, and you might like to maintain a social life, seeing your friends and boyfriend every once in awhile.

And imagine if you had children to care for (hence the fact that I don't have a family). Being a superwoman is just about impossible.

So really what does this mean?

If you're like me, and you still haven't written your paper for the conference, it probably won't be as good as it could have been had you not had 20000000000 other things to do. I hope they take that into consideration during the question and answer period.