Posting once a month? Sure, why not.

So today I met with a grad school recruiter from Stanford. Right now it's my top choice, but I doubt I'll get in - it's Stanford. The program is excellent and has what I want, but I'm not sure about the city. Paolo Alto was described as an upper class/upscale town. 60% of grad students live on campus. Do I want to be isolated from the outside world? At least in Madison you live off campus and see people other than students. I think it would drive me crazy to live on campus. I'll have to check it out. It is only 45 mins from San Fran, and I guess some people actually commute to Stanford from SF daily. So...I need to check the place out before making any decisions. I need to get my application in before anything, though.

Teaching is going well...I'm still a slacker though, still leaving everything till the last minute. I used to think that teachers (yes, including TAs) were infallible, perfectly organized people with excellent time management skills. Riiight. I've found myself staying up very late/getting up very early a few times to prep for class. Turns out I'm not the only one. I think if I had more structure now I would be better organized...free time means "I'll do it later..." then later becomes 2am.

I do have some structure to my life now - a certain chain bookstore on the near-west side of town is keeping me busy too many nights a week and paying me just enough money to keep me coming back. That is, until I decide to spend Thanksgiving weekend with my family rather than helping people carry out their civic duty. Apparently, I'm not allowed to request any days off between November and mid-January. And since I refuse to give up a holiday with my family for $50 (that's how much I'd make from a 9 hour shift...you do the math), I'm close to being semi-unemployed again.

I've gotta get back to grading those papers. Those 16 identical papers. I just keep reminidng myself that it will get more interesting! It will!