blurry-eyed

whew, my eyes are exhausted! i've done so well this year not procrastinating with my assignments...that is, until right about now. in the next week, i've got a grant proposal and a research paper due, in addition to my research methods final. how much have i done??? not so much.
so here's some food for thought: what do you do when you're a student of social work (a field heavily concerned with ethics), and one of your professors behaves in a manner that is FAR from ethical? we're not talking sexual harassment or something so blatantly obvious as that. more like the subversive sort of thing that a professor with tenure can get away with. one classmate has already gone to the department head with a complaint, but it's looking like we students are going to have to suck it up and hope that our grades aren't affected. it's a little dishartening to realize that there are people like this even in the most well-intentioned professions.
on a happier note, my favorite for america's next top model (the only tv show i allowed myself to watch today) did very well tonight and was not eliminated. i know that there are some pretty nasty parts to the modeling industry (like one of the girl's being reminded that you have to be skinny to be a model, so lose that belly!), but it's like the show allows me to vicariously live the life of a supermodel hopeful (i knew i could never be a model when i realized i wasn't going to make it past 5'2"). i guess that's what reality tv is all (not really all) about.
also on a good note, the garden is coming along quite nicely (except for the new transplants i put in on monday). i should have pictures up after the weekend if i remember to charge the camera...
alrighty, that's about all i've got for now.
later peeps

is that light i see?

what? is that light at the end of the tunnel? i think i see it. yep, just 2 more weeks, and the semester is over. i hate to say it, but i'm so ready. i've been trying to plug through and get these last assignments knocked out, but the tv has been calling. survivor was intense tonight...go stephanie! now it's primetime...i'm in such a slump on thursday nights. seems like i'll watch anything to get my eyes off the task at hand.

here's something scary: compounding pharmacies take fda safety-approved medicine a and fda sefety-approved medicine b (and maybe c and d, etc), mix them together and dispense medicine coctails that may or may not be safe (and certainly not fda approved). wow.

i finally put together my push mower (you know, the kind without the motor) and "mowed" the lawn today. it's gotten so high, that i think i mostly just pushed the tall stuff over. whatever. it was certainly an upper-body work out!
speaking of working out, may i just say that i LOVE me some krispy kreme doughnuts!
on that note, i'm going to finish my show and shut my peepers.

boat race 2005

well, it was another successful boat race weekend at andy and travis's. there were loads of people there, and a good few boats. i thought i would have a boat of my own, but it turns out that mini ironing boards don't really float so much... so i decided i'd be on the sidelines and snap some photos. there's been some disagreement as to who actually won the race, so i won't post any results here.
pre-and post-race partying was great as usual; many a beer and much meat was consumed. i knew it was about time to go home when bottle rockets were being shot off inside the house!
so enjoy the pics, and if you were square this year, try to be there next time!

trevor and me after the race 

awarded: best engineered boat 

here's a picture of the boys pulling into the finish. (joel, anders, trevor) 

figuring it out

so today for class i read an article about barriers that empowerement-based social work practice faces. to me, empowerment is the way to go. it makes me frustrated and a little sad that a good approach has so many barriers (for example, it costs more to empower people than to give hand-outs, and some practitioners don't want referrals from empowerment-based programs because it takes longer to see results, etc.).
for those of you unfamiliar with what in the world i'm talking about, empowerment in social work is the approach that puts the power in the client's hands. Heifer International is an organization (not quite social work, but along a similar track) that works to empower them through the use of livestock and education, helping to free people from the oppression of poverty and hunger.
sometimes i feel pretty oppressed by all of the decisions made for me, particularly those dealing with the planet on which i live. i read these books (currently Plan B by Lester Brown and A Language Older Than Words by Derrick Jensen), and sometimes i get bogged down with it all. it's so easy to get to feeling like there's nothing i can do (i mean, that's what i've been told for most of my life) about these things. well, enough of the whining. i've been directed to a rad blog (So What Can I Do?) that may help pull me out of the haze of knowing too much about the problems and not enough about the solutions. a woman (originally from the big LR) keeps up with all sorts of issues, and posts ways that people (yep, just individuals) can do to make a difference.

$$$$$$

wow! being an adult is so expensive and tiring... as some of you know, not only am i losing my roomie leah (though i am quite excited about ashley moving in!); i am also losing the use of most (okay, almost all) kitchen appliances and furniture, as leah will be taking everything that is her's with her. so i've been in the process of acquiring all of the necessaries; which turn out be rather expensive. i spent a ton of money at target (ghasp), and dr. tommy donated a good bit of furniture etc. to the brooke's house is emptying fund. trevor and i, with the help of todd's truck (and some elbow grease) moved stuff all afternoon. now i'm pooped, but my room looks great and i'll still be able to cook when leah's gone.
so i'm watching tv, waiting for my new favorite show to come on. grey's anatomy. it's great.
i haven't watched that much tv this weekend. kind of surprising, but i've kept myself pretty busy.
"the race has no rules. except eye gouging. no eye gouging" --guy from grey's anatomy.

for those of you entering in the third annual andy and travis harris brake lake boat race, good luck, and no eye gouging.

playin' hookie

yeah, so i'm turning into a horrible student...today i left my assistanceship at 10 because of a non-specific tummy ache. sure, by lunch i was feeling fine. but did i go to class at 1? no. did i go to class at 5? no. did i lie in bed and watch days of our lives and piddle around the house and take a walk? yes! is it really malingering if my stomach hurt for a while?
for those of you in the central arkansas area, wasn't that a wicked loud storm last night??? it (along with the tummy) kept me up quite late. i hear we're getting more of that. ahh, arkansas in the spring. went to check on the garden, and my babies weathered the storm well; rather pleased about that.
oh, if there's anyone out there that is a fan of old crow medicine show, they will be playing at sticky fingers on april 22. well, i'm about out of words, so i'll go before it gets dreadful.
later gators

here's a picture of my new garden at the stifft station community garden. i'm growing some lavendar, rosemary, basil, onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, and other various goodies along the way...

up in flames

baaaaahhhhh! spring break is so over, and it's killing me. sometimes i wish it didn't even exist...it's so much harder to go back than it would have been just to plug along. rather than doing schoolwork i am (of course) watching supernanny. wow, i hope my kids aren't like that.
yesterday was great. trevor and i went out to the stifft station community garden to claim a spot. we weeded and cleared, turned under the soil, built beds and planted. to top it off we made a fabulous portabella mushroom dinner with new potatoes and salad. it was the most fulfilling day i've had in quite some time. but now it's hard not to want to be there ALL the time. i'm unbelievably ready for summer, and i've got 5 weeks of school left! yikes.