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Mid-January Pleasure Reading Update
So far so good on the whole “read more” goal. As of right now, I’ve already finished two books for pleasure this year (although technically the first one was started in the final days of 2015 – but I’m still counting it). I don’t feel like either book is really worthy of it’s own separate review post, as one was just kind of frivolous fun, and the other, well, wasn’t great… so I think mini-reviews will do the trick nicely. The first book is Stanley Weintraub’s 11 Days in December: Christmas at the Bulge, 1944. I bought this a couple of years ago after I read his Pearl Harbor Christmas,…
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2016 “Bullet Journal”
Well here we are once again! New year, fresh start re: regular posting – a little later than expected due to internet connection issues we had all last week – but now that (hopefully) that’s resolved, it’s time for another installment of… Last year I gave an adapted version of Bullet Journaling a try, and it worked surprisingly well once I tweaked the system to suit my own needs – specifically, keeping the “Bullet” part pretty much completely confined to tasks and to-do lists. Bottom line is, for my life and for my line of work, the actual “bullet” part of the system for planning purposes? It totally doesn’t work…
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Happy New Year Everyone!
Well, it’s that time again, blogosphere. It’s a new year. And of course, inevitably that means it’s RESOLUTION TIME. Yes. Once again, as I always do, I’m going to come up with a list of things I want to accomplish/work at in 2016. I haven’t been terribly successful with this kind of goal making in the past, and last year was no different (I’ll have a post next week assessing my successes and not-so-successes from 2015), but I don’t really feel like that’s a huge problem. My general attitude about these things is that it doesn’t hurt to try. I’m a big believer in the process – the idea that…
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Mani Monday (Tuesday? Whoops): Christmas Edition
I’m a day late for Mani Monday because I was hanging out at my parents’ place with Hilde and the Plooper (and my parents too!), but I do want to share my Christmas manicure with you guys before the year ends (like, holy crap, where did the rest of December go exactly?). Like last christmas, I went rather simple this year – mainly due to time constraints. Christmas Eve is always a hectic day for me, because in addition to prepping all my presents for others and packing a bag for my parent’s house for the next few days, I also have to prep myself for work (I sing at…
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Star Wars Mani Monday
So, we went to see Star Wars Saturday. I won’t be posting a review or anything here, because a) I can’t really talk specifically because of possible spoilers, and b) I’m not really cut out for the movie critic thing – I either like movies and want to watch them again and again and again, or I don’t. I don’t really have much more complicated thoughts than that. But if you’re interested in that kind of review/recap (and have either seen the flick already or don’t mind spoilers), Reenie over at The Fangirl’s Dilemma did a great one here. What I will say is that I was so happy about…
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Bows and Arrows and Glitter, Oh My!
So, last thing I need is another new hobby, yea? I mean, I can barely keep up with the ones I already have. Last time I finished a knitting project was literally last year, my photo albums have been sitting neglected for months, my sketchbook is frighteningly bare – as are my nails, and all I ever do is bitch about how little time I have to pursue anything “for fun.” So yea. Last thing I need is yet another hobby to complain about not having time to do. Well, I wish someone would tell my brain that. Because I guess I’m an archer now. Whoops. How did this happen?…
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Instagram Update
#currentlyreading #goodbook #archery #newhobbie #posttocome #plooper #chickennugget #wait #gooddog #hilde #puppyface #nerdcuddles #shesgettingsobig #autumn #NEPAlove (I know it’s continued to be quiet here. I’m finally starting to get a little bit ahead of things though, so as I polish up the next few posts, I figure let’s do a bit of a visual update featuring pictures from my personal Instagram that won’t make it to the blog account – now that I’ve finally remembered the password for it. I hope everyone has been well and I’m looking forward to getting back in the swing of things!)
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All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
God, I forgot how soul sucking this book was. I decided on a whim as Jim and I were perusing through the bookstore weekend before last to pick up a copy of All Quiet on the Western Front. I had read it in college as part of one of my core History classes – back when my head was filled with dreams of being a famous novelist and History was just something interesting and extra to fill spots in my course schedule – and had enjoyed it then. Even then I was drawn to the dark and brutal honesty of the prose. But once I was finished, I promptly put…
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Back to School Week: Academic Advice from the Other Side of the Desk
So here we are at our last Back to School Week (that turned into two weeks because I’m still not quite back in the blogging groove) Post for this year! Some academic advice direct from your resident student-turned-professor. Being relatively young for a prof certainly has it’s benefits in being able to give this kind of advice because I am both familiar with professor expectations (having them myself!) and remember keenly what it’s like to be a student. So here are Magpie’s top 9 pieces of academic advice for the college student! Go to office hours. Seriously. Your professors have that time specifically set aside to meet with and help…
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Back to School Week: Common Faux Pas When Communicating With Professors
So, funny story. I’ve literally been agonizing over this post for a year and a half. I had originally intended it to be part of back to school week LAST year, but ended up chickening out of posting it. Why? Because it seems like a fairly good topic, and probably (hopefully) contains sound advice… Well, mainly because so many other articles I’ve read that are written by professors and deal with this kind of stuff take on such a negative, snarky, and frankly condescending tone. And I don’t want this to be like that. I don’t want to be like that. So I’ve tried my best not to be. Students…
