Charming Rose

Finished

My Masters degree is finally complete. I have officially graduated. The whole thing seems surreal. When you get your bachelor's there is so much build up. This time it was almost a let down. I took my exam that determined graduation a week before the rest of my classes ended. I had passed my exam, but still had a ton of work to do. So anti-climatic. 

Add to that the fact that I am not participating in the graduation ceremony and you get this whole unfinished feeling. I know that I have completed my degree, but there is no closure. How can I create some? I guess I could have a party, but who would come. I would have a graduation party with maybe 8 guests. That wouldn't really help. 

I think that this might just be the way things are now. Once you hit a certain age there are few major events left in your life. Adults just don't make big deals over things. At least not those without extravagant budgets. 

So I guess I will just revel in the fact that I have some much needed time to do everything I have been putting off for months and months. There are doctors to visit, closets to clean out, resumes to write, and jobs to apply for. Perhaps there is not as much free time as I thought. With the little time I do have, I will try to be better about this blog. To be fair though, I did not have much to write about when I was mired in school work. Hopefully this time I will really mean it when I say I will write more.

That is if I can figure out this whole job search thing. The last time I looked for a real job I had a very specific job and very specific places in which to apply. This time the search is all over the place. I hope I can figure out the whole thing and land a job. A girl can dream, can't she?

In the meantime, if I do something interesting I will share it with you, my few dear readers. : )

Is this a West Coast thing?

If you have talked to me in the last 4 months, then you know I have been having some issues with my professors. Not grade issues, I have a 4.0, but professionalism issues. I know that most of my profs are adjunct and that they have other jobs, but most of them show a lack of preparation for class and do not seem to be imparting a lot in the way of learning. I am not going to call them out specifically, but below is a list of issues I am seeing with some of those who are supposed to be teaching me.

1. Online classes are not a way to do nothing in the way of instruction. There need to be readings and assignments that build on one another so that when the time comes to complete the big projects you know what you are doing. My online classes have been like submitting work to a publishing house. I type up something and send it to a faceless stranger who had little to do with its development. 

2. When students email you, you should probably get back to them with an answer. If you don't want to be emailed, then say so. If you give that out and say we can email you with questions, then you need to answer. In one instance, it has been a month since I sent said email. I even forwarded it on again, still no answer.

3. Prepare for class. If you are talking on a topic, don't just pull it out of the air. If you have examples to share, you should probably bring them to class with you. If you don't have said examples, making the students stay because "It just doesn't seem right to cut you lose just yet," is lame. We know you are BSing the rest of class. Just let us go.

4. Don't insult me. I am a Writing Graduate Student. I do not need two weeks of lectures on style, tone, and figurative language. Most of that stuff I learned in middle school. Plus, I taught it for 7 years. I should hope that the other writing grad students know this stuff too. If not, I have other issues.

I want to know are these things happening because of the frame of mind and attitude of the West Coast? My East Coast profs, while not always my favorites, did not do these things. They were prepared, accessible and actually taught me things I did not know. I am disgusted that I am paying for some of these classes. They aren't worth very much to me and they definitely aren't worth the $1000 or so I am paying for them.

So anyone out there with any experience on going to school out here, please share with me your experience. Is this a West Coast thing or is it just my school?

PS: Sorry the font is small. Apparently the new version does not allow me to change the size or style of my font. Which is rather annoying.

You Don't Know How Lucky You Are

This semester I have class in 2 buildings on campus that I have never entered before, The Clay and TheBroadway. The one I have class in on Tuesday is the motivation for this post. It's in the Broadway. The name comes from the fact that it faces that street. 

The second floor is classrooms and a computer lab and the 3- 10 floors are dorms. Now you may have noticed I didn't mention the first floor, that's because it is the motivating factor for this post.

The first floor is full of retail. Restaurant retail. The ground floor of their dorm has a sushi place, aChipotle and a Starbucks. Plus, across the street is a Pho place and a bar. A block away you can find both pizza and lebanese. Walk four blocks and you can have MExican, more pizza, and Seattle's Best Coffee. 

Do you think the students who live in that building have any idea how lucky they are? They have a ton of food options right at their feet. They don't have to go to the crappy cafeteria and buy overpriced, awful food. I am jealous.

For context, I should mention I went to Loyola. Loyola is in the middle of Baltimore city, but there is very little in the way of cheap and good food nearby. (And don't get me started on the extortion that went on in the cafeterias.) Nothing is as close as the places are to the Broadway. We had to walks blocks, take a cab, drive or get on the bus. These kids have to get on the elevator.

 I hope they realize that they live in one really cool dorm. 

Totally off topic...

I love this commercial and you all should too!

 Gravy Baby 

PS Typepad: Why can't I change the font? 

Book List Revisited

So as anyone who actually reads this knows, I asked for book suggestions awhile back. I have gotten some of the books read, but am running into a tiny problem. A lot of the newer and popular books are not easily available at the library. I know I should want to buy books, but when you make $8.53 an hour and work about 20 hours a week and have to pay for graduate school. You can see where I am going. 

My spending habits are nothing like those you remember from our dual income days. I actually debated about spending $10 on a black long sleeve tee to wear under my sweaters. Life is different to say the least. 

I have gotten off topic. So anyway, I am trying to buy the books if I can find them at Powell's or Target for a good price or if they are in the library. This puts kinks in the system. But I wanted to update you on my progress because someone (Jamie) did inquire about my status.

The list is as follows:  (In green if I have read it and my briefest of reviews)

The Book List

·      Books

•  Atonement by Ian McEwan (Good. Actually made me angry at times. Nice twist at the end)
•  Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (Okay. Not as good as Atonement. I wasn't as interested in the characters in this one)
• About a Boy by Nick Hornby
• Barbarians at the Gate by David Wong Louie (Tough to get into. Overall okay.)
•  Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey
• The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
• My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (One of the best books I have ever read)
• The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls ( Wonderful book, really engaging)
• Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro
• The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
• The Shack by William P Young
• Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
• The Shipping News by Annie Proulx ( I could not get into this book. I only read about 60 pages then it was due at the library. So I returned it)
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
• Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
• Dedication by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kruas

·      Authors

• Melissa Nathan
• Anne Rice
• Isabelle Allende

·      Series

• Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series ( I love True Blood so I was easily hooked. I think the books get better written as they go on. A few inconsistencies in the first couple. I will say that the writers on the series certainly made the first two a bit more exciting than they were in book form. Overall though, good though not very serious books. I am waiting for the 9th book to come in paperback. Hardcovers cost too much. I got the paperbacks for $5 a piece at Target.)
• Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson

Adventures on the Green Line

Last Saturday, Trimet (the public transportation authority here in Portland) opened a new line of the light rail. It's called the Green line and it goes from Downtown at Portland State out to Clackamas. At the end of the line, is a nice mall. Since it was opening day, you could ride the line for free. For some insane reason Scott and I thought it would be a great idea to ride it to the end. 

First, we get to the stop and wait forever. Apparently the schedule has a few kinks on this first day. Luckily for us, within 15 or so minutes a train finally arrives. A train packed full of people. Scott and I managed to cram in. Scott hanging onto a handle by the door and me hanging onto him. This is not an ideal way to ride, but what are you going to do. You would think at this point we might have considered getting off and trying again on another day, but no. Being cheap won out and we stayed put, not that we could have extracted ourselves at that point anyway.

As the ride goes on, a few people clear out and Scott and I begin to think that maybe we will have some breathing room for the rest of the ride. We were wrong. When we get to Gateway Transit Center, there is a huge crowd. Trimet even has people at the stop to help control them as they get on. If only one of those people had been by our door.

A crowd surges in and it is clear that our area is full, yet someone (we will call him D Bag) proceeds to try and cram himself into the car. No one is pleased with this, but the person most annoyed by it is another man (we will call him Shirtless Tool). Shirtless Tool shoves D Bag and then they begin shoving one another back and forth yelling at each other like the children that they are. Shirtless ends up slamming into me and I have had enough. I scream "Please get off of me you idiot people!" (And if you believe that's actually what I said, there's a bridge I want to sell you) So I scream loud and angrily enough to get the attention of the "boys." 

Here is our exchange:

Shirtless: (Whines) Sorry, He was pushing me. He's been an a%%hole the whole time at the stop.

Me:  (Turning on my teacher voice) Well pushing him isn't helping anyone.

Shirtless' friend: (Inarticulately) Yeah he's been a real a%%.

Me: (Continues to condescend) Well I understand that he has been less than nice. But getting him riled up here in this crowd is not a good idea. So let it go.

(Side note: Shirtless and friend smell like really cheap alcohol.)

At this point a Trimet worker comes down and asks if there is a problem and I tell her " There was some shoving, but everyone is okay now." 

And off we go. The three staring each other down, but not doing anything. Thankfully.

At this point, I am apparently a rock star for taking care of this problem. Several of the women on the train actually get my attention to give me a thumbs up for settling the train down. When Shirtless and his group get off, one of the ladies proceeds to gush at how great I was for handling the whole thing. I tell her "I taught middle school. I just warped into teacher mode and luckily since I was dealing with grown children, they listened."  So, we all get to the end of the line in one piece.

It's funny how my teacher skills still ooze out of me every once in awhile. I don't miss teaching, but the skill set certainly comes in handy from time to time.

To see a map of the green line click here:

railsystem.htm 

The Best Laid Plans

So this blog was supposed to be a place where I was going to let you all know what I am doing out here in Portland. I planned on blogging after every new thing I did. Life got in the way. First, I have little time to go and do the "new" things I wanted to blog about. When I do have something to write about, it takes me so long to have time to write that the topic is no longer relevant. I wish I could say that this will change, but I can't make any promises. The new quarter starts in a few weeks, and at that point I will be drowning in school work. I am going to try though. It's the least I can do for the few of you who are actually following this.

This weekend we went to the Art in the Pearl festival. The Pearl District is the neighborhood in which we live. For my Baltimore readers, it is as close as you can get to Federal Hill here in Portland. Scott and I are thrilled we managed to snag an apartment here. We live near the park and that is exactly where they had the festival. The weather this weekend was ugly, but that doesn't stop Portlanders. Even in the windy, rainy, and cold weather, the park was packed. This is something I feel is really a rainy city thing. I know in Baltimore when it rains, a festival is doomed. Not here, I actually heard a vendor say this year was her best showing yet. Only in Portland. 

So the festival showcased Pacific Northwest Artists for the most part and there were so many beautiful things on display. Unfortunately, nothing beautiful comes cheap and so we left empty handed. I saw a great jewelry cabinet that was only $23,000. Can you believe that Scott would not buy that for me? 

The festival was fun though and we had fun despite the rain and wind. What I found most remarkable though was the way Portland manages to clean up so well from these events. The festival ended at 7 and by 11 there were almost no traces of a festival. Outside of some smooshed grass, the park looks just like it did last week before the festival. I was thrilled because if you have ever had to walk a dog in a public park you know the dangers of food scraps. Elphie, of course, thinks they are great; I do not agree. On an average day 5-10 people are eating their lunch in the park and they are not very good at cleaning up after themselves. Yet today, there is nothing left from the thousands of people who ate there this weekend. If only that cleaning crew could make a daily sweep of the park. 

So there you have it. A less than super exciting recap of the one thing we did this weekend. Hopefully by changing my schedule so that I have off on Sundays I will be able to do more things and share them with you. For those who read and follow this, thank you and I really appreciate it! : )

Here is a pics of one of the large sculptures that were around the park. This was during the 20 minutes or so that we got to have sunlight. 

Frustrated

Lately, my frustration levels have been high, despite also having a fair bit of fun. I am always in one state or another. It's either annoyed or happy. I need to find a happy medium. 

There is so much to say, but I don't want this to be a lengthy rant so I will give you the short version of why I am so stressed.

1. Work is full of contradictions. I do something one way and the very next day I am told to do it another. It becomes so frustrating to be in a constant state of flux. What is even worse is that the reasons things keep changing is people keep trying to get rid of the end result instead of the problem. All they are doing is creating a new faulty result. Why can't they see that?

2. My professor is making me crazy. How can you teach grant writing with only an 8 page syllabus and overview? We are just supposed to go out and find a grant for our organization and write it with basically no guidance from him. Why am I paying for this class, if he isn't going to teach me anything? My biggest problem is my non-profit has never applied for a grant before so they are as lost as I am. Right now I am treading water, but I am not sure how I can keep from drowning.

3. The paid internship is not fitting into my life. I have off 2 days a week and now I am working those two days on this insurance stuff. The biggest issue is I am getting paid 1/2 of what I thought I would (and what I am worth) and so that makes me even less motivated to give up my precious few free hours. I don't want to slack and I need this for my resume, but it is draining me even further.

On a good note, we have hung out with Kristy and her boyfriend Riley and they are a lot of fun. Who knew it would take moving cross-country to connect with someone from home? It is nice to have people with whom I can hang out and chat . That is my one silver lining that I am clinging to for dear life.

So I know this isn't very funny or entertaining, but it's what's been going on with me. Getting it out is very cathartic. If only I could fix what is wrong. Then I would feel much better. Any suggestions?

Things That:

Things that I Overheard at Work:

Girl 1: " I used to hate animal print, but I don't know. I kinda like these zebra print flats."

Girl 2: " Well, at least they aren't real zebra."

Man: " Hey, I am going to head to Barnes and Noble. Meet me over there."

Woman: " What are you going to do over there?"

Man: "Look at the books."

Woman: "Oh, ..... books."

Seen on a sign my store has set up. (I assume all stores have them.)

"Dorm Essentials: Underwear"

"Back to School Essentials: Underwear"

I am withholding any commentary to see what you all think of these tidbits. So use the comments section. Do you think these things are as funny as I do?

Cramping My Style

So yesterday I had to me on campus by 5 in order to pick up a form from the English Department. Well, this http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1244659/ mucked all of that up. 

Tell Kerri, Brendan and Harrison that making a movie in the MIDDLE of the city on a Tuesday is a total pain. Pioneer Courthouse Square for those who don't know is in what we refer to as City Center. It used to be an old hotel which they tore down and now there's this sort of park, pavilion area there. They call it Portland's living room. 

Here's a pic of it on a normal day. There was no way I was going to get away with a picture yesterday.

That's where they were filming. They had the whole thing filled with a fake festival-type thing and had the sidewalks closed. Add to that trailers were parked all up and down most of downtown and you have a traffic problem. The MAX took 30 minutes to get me there. That's usually a 10 min drive. We kept having to wait because of all of the traffic at all of the lights.

So the signage for the sidewalk closures was poor, and I totally ended up getting yelled at by some guy in a headset for being on the wrong sidewalk. Sorry, work on your signs there buddy. Secretly, I hope I am in the back of some shot, that would be hysterical. I won't hold my breathe. So after being yelled at, I had to walk along the side of the street for a block because traffic was so bad I couldn't cross. It was a giant mess.

So needless to say I got to school at 5:10 and did not get my form. The revenue and exposure for Portland is nice, but I need to get to class. Let's keep the filming out of my way; it's cramping my style.

The Insanity That is My Life

I cannot keep up with this, due to my insane schedule. I had hoped to make this site all about all the new things I am doing in Portland, but all I do is work and got to school. I feel as though I have no time to just relax and enjoy life. Nothing made that more clear than having a weekend off when Mom was here. It was nice to go and do whatever I wanted, when I wanted. I know this will all be worth it, once I am done my degree, but right now I am just a stress case. 

Add the fact that the technical writing community is being hard hit by layoffs, and you have me sitting here wondering what I was thinking. How could I have left my job and moved across the country? However to be fair, I have a friend who is subbing and the teaching prospects are also thin.

There is always a silver lining though. If we had stayed put, Scott would have been unemployed at the worst possible time, so I have to try and stay positive. Because in the grand scheme we really are lucky.

I guess I just wish, my life could be exactly what I want it to be. I want to be working in my new field. I want to be out there seeing all that Portland has to offer, and I want time to pursue my outside interests. Oh, to have hobbies. How wonderful it would be to have a creative outlet and time to hone it.

I will just have to be patient in the meantime, I will again try to get this thing written more frequently. I think perhaps very short snippets from my day.

Here's one from Monday's shift at work. Guest comes in to Customer Service because her credit cars has been declined. We allow them to use the phone to call and find out why. Apparently her frequent late payments caused them to freeze her account. No more charging for her. Well, she goes off (because you know I did this, I am so powerful I can freeze people's credit). As she yells, her baby starts crying (due to the yelling I imagine). She yells at the baby. The husband intervenes and she says this, " I am just SO tired of his attitude problem!" Ummm lady your baby isn't even walking yet, but he has an attitude problem? I know who has the problem. 

Long story short, she leaves and I am left with her 2 carts worth of stuff to put back because none of her other cards work either. I guess this story is an example of the sad state of the economy and people's attitudes. Although, if she knew her other cards were maxed why did she think she could buy $400 worth of stuff?

 

Because that, I believe, is the American way, wanting way more than we can have, denying its impossibility and blaming everyone else when, in the end, we can't get it.