I have a feeling that I am going to hear back from more schools this week. I am still really excited about Buffalo. The not being funded worries me a bit, and I don't want to assume I am going there because if I don't get funding, I won't be able to go. While being accepted feels great, I wonder just what the outcome would have been had I not been a TA for Jennifer this last semester. She put in a lot of good words with a lot of people there, including Professor Dyson with whom I primarily will be working. As I said, I am very happy to be accepted and I am sure I can succeed in the program, but part of me wonders just how things would have turned out without my connections. The program has taken a lot of former UA students, so maybe I would have been fine. Maybe not. This thought is driving me a tad crazy. Especially when I didn't get funding right away. Did just barely make the cut with someone trusted vouching for me? Ah! I'm okay. This is why I am excited to hear what other programs think of my application. Of course there are so many factors that go into this type of decision, the others' decisions may not tell the whole story. As usual I'm just wondering if I am/seem good enough. It doesn't help with so many other successful people in the program (Jon offered funding for 5 years to Stanford, Luke being accepted to Chicago and visiting Yale, Drew accepted by Cincinnati, visiting Duke, and being 1 or 2 away from being accepted by Michigan). It must be hard for Justin not hearing anything, but I know he will get into a great school. He is very good at what he does.
This weekend went by really quickly. Alex and I were out late Friday. We went to see Matt's band, Stareater, at Plush. They were pretty good, and he plays the drums well. Andrea met up with us, so that was awesome. A band from Austin (is this a sign for good news? Probably not) called Octopus Project played, and they were a lot of fun and really impressive. There was some fine theremin playing. All the members were incredibly talented, often changing instruments between songs. Overall it was a great show. Before and in between bands was also really cool because people from the department happened to be there because they had just finished up their quals and comps this week. I figured they might be there because of last year, but as far as I knew for sure only Auld Dubliner was planned.
After the show Matt, Alex, Andrea, and I went to the Shot in the Dark Cafe on Broadway. It took a long time for the food to come out, but the place was so much better than the Grill it is amazing. I can't believe people choose to go to that douche-hole over a great little place. I'm sure it has to do with the Grill's location and its image. The food at Shot in the Dark was really good too. I should remember clearly since I didn't have one drink. During the wait for food and while eating we all looked at Trivial Pursuit questions from a version from the 80s. Some of the things we knew/reasoned were pretty awesome, but overall we did not know much of what was on the cards. Afterward we walked back to the cars and went home. During the walk there was some good bitching about Tucson urban planning.
Saturday I got up after 2.5-3 hours of sleep and taught both adult classes and the kids. Alex and I relaxed and then went on a walk with Bryan. The weather was windy and a little cold with lots of clouds. "It looked like the end of the world" out there. Alex and I ate Brushfire BBQ (we still have a problem with liking food too much). Then we went to the B-Line for desert. Alex had the phenomenal blueberry pie warmed with ice cream. I had the pot de creme which was very tasty despite how fool I was. We decided against a movie because we were tired and my terrible coughing illness. I had to take a ricola when we got home and was falling asleep while sucking on it.
Today I ran the adult quickstart tournament. Alex played and did very well. She has great potential for the game. If she keeps it up, she could be a solid 3.0/3.5 player in no time. I just want her to have fun, meet new people, be active, and want to play. I am trying to do the same with tennis. After a week of exercising, I am feeling better. I really should keep it up, and I am excited for the tennis league season coming up. After the tournament, Alex and I walked around the track with Andrea. We then went to OPG and used the fifty/50 card for another great success. The food was pretty good, and I have leftovers for tomorrow. All for 50% off.
I really need to finalize the Greg Tour of Tucson. I have almost all the restaurants decided. Now I must communicate this information better with others.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
A pretty good day
Today I was offered admittance into the Ph.D program at Buffalo! I am very excited that one of the schools accepted me. As of now I have not been granted funding, but they told me that I was at the top of the queue which gives me a "considerable possibility" at receiving funding when everything is all said and done. Jennifer told me many great things about the program and also made it seem doable. I was not offered a trip, but I may want to think about taking one on my own. Knowing next to nothing about the city, it is exciting that it is within 5 hours from Pittsburgh, 8 to Boston, 2 to Toronto. Having a professional hockey team in town that regularly plays the Penguins is also nice, and the Bills play the Steelers every once in a while too.
This made up for the fact that Washington rejected me on Monday (Valentine's Day nonetheless, although I didn't read the email until the 15th).
In other events of the day, Alex, Andrea, and I walked Tumamoc Hill today. It was surprisingly brutal and very steep. This after we took our first class of yoga yesterday at Yoga Oasis downtown, which was also brutal. Oh what we do to get into shape. Alex and Andrea have also started to take the beginner tennis lessons I teach on Tuesday.
After the hike we were starving, so we ate at El Charro downtown. This was the first time I had eaten there, and I really liked the location. The atmosphere was just amazing. I also love the fact that I got the fifty/50 card from my work which gives me 50% off of my bill up to $100 at El Charro, Orange Leaf, Sir Vezas, Canoa Ranch Grill on the Green, Metropolitan Grill, Old Pueblo Grille, McMahon's Steakhouse, and Abrego Grill. It is fantastic.
The only true downside of the day is that I got a $25 fine for parking downtown in a lot. That did not make me happy, but it is okay in the end. We just so hungry.
This made up for the fact that Washington rejected me on Monday (Valentine's Day nonetheless, although I didn't read the email until the 15th).
In other events of the day, Alex, Andrea, and I walked Tumamoc Hill today. It was surprisingly brutal and very steep. This after we took our first class of yoga yesterday at Yoga Oasis downtown, which was also brutal. Oh what we do to get into shape. Alex and Andrea have also started to take the beginner tennis lessons I teach on Tuesday.
After the hike we were starving, so we ate at El Charro downtown. This was the first time I had eaten there, and I really liked the location. The atmosphere was just amazing. I also love the fact that I got the fifty/50 card from my work which gives me 50% off of my bill up to $100 at El Charro, Orange Leaf, Sir Vezas, Canoa Ranch Grill on the Green, Metropolitan Grill, Old Pueblo Grille, McMahon's Steakhouse, and Abrego Grill. It is fantastic.
The only true downside of the day is that I got a $25 fine for parking downtown in a lot. That did not make me happy, but it is okay in the end. We just so hungry.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
An Uncertain Future
Alex, Andrea, and I planned on going to FioRito's last night, but it seemed like it had closed down completely. There were padlocks all over the outside of the doors and windows. There also was graffiti on one of the doors. Too bad I can't find the post on reddit yesterday where someone had written in an "i" in graffiti to form giraffiti and drew a giraffe. I enjoyed that quite a bit and writing graffiti reminded me of it.
Anyways, after finding out FioRito's appeared to be closed down (we still had a $25 certificate from restaurants.com too!), we ended up going to Caruso's. It was both Alex and my first time there. Alex got the eggplant parmigiana with the salad. She said it was one of the best salads she ever had. She also enjoyed the eggplant which was not fried like the dish often seems to be. I had the Caruso's special (1 meat ravioli, 1 cheese ravioli, spaghetti, and 2 homemade meatballs with meat sauce). It was very tasty, and I am interested in trying the white garlic sauce there. The prices were pretty normal for an Italian place, and in fact seemed a bit low compared to other places around town.
It's getting close to two months since I have finished my thesis. I still can't believe I wrote a 113 page piece of research. The amazing thing is that I could have kept going. I even cut out a whole chapter that I had planned on writing. I am currently reading Dr. Futrell's Blood in the Arena. It is really interesting, and I should have used it more in my thesis. On second thought, I am glad that I didn't. It was hard enough getting it in on time as it was.
I still have not heard anything from any of the schools to which I applied. It is frustrating. Luke was accepted to Chicago and invited to visit Yale. Drew is supposed to visit Duke. Here I am just waiting and waiting. I really want to be accepted somewhere. At this point I am not picky. I have a slight hierarchy (Brown, Toronto, Penn State, Texas, Buffalo, Boston, Rutgers, Washington, and Oregon (?)), but being accepted anywhere would be great, and I would feel honored to attend any of these schools. The checking of emails ranges anywhere from 4-10 times a weekday. In fact, how about right now? Nothing. I have not started to call my parents because my dad called me immediately when something came from Oregon (just a confirmation of application and the verification number and what not).
Concerning applications of a different sort, I still have not found a job. I am only working about 6 hours a week at the Reffkin Tennis Center. I had 4 or so private lessons with a lady, Katya, from Switzerland. It was nice. She was friendly and a pretty good player. I wouldn't mind taking on more, but I am reluctant to work when Alex is off. That is also a factor in the amount of hours on Saturday. I don't know how much I really want to teach kids anyway. I still need a break from it. But yeah, nothing new on the old job search. I tried Bookman's, Baggin's, some banks but nothing yet. Compass Bank rejected me in 2 hours in fact. It was pretty funny. I got an email saying they were pursuing a different candidate, but I had applied for three positions which upon checking the site I had been rejected for all of them. I don't really know what jobs are out there or for what kind I should be looking. Alex tells me that I should leave master's degree off my resume as it over qualifies me for some jobs. She also says that she saw a report that a master's can actually make it harder to find a job. I feel weird about leaving it off though. It feels a little disingenuous, and I worked hard for that degree. Everyone fudges their applications though; don't they? Oh well. I have had some time to do a bit of cleaning around the apartment in between the email checking.
Anyways, after finding out FioRito's appeared to be closed down (we still had a $25 certificate from restaurants.com too!), we ended up going to Caruso's. It was both Alex and my first time there. Alex got the eggplant parmigiana with the salad. She said it was one of the best salads she ever had. She also enjoyed the eggplant which was not fried like the dish often seems to be. I had the Caruso's special (1 meat ravioli, 1 cheese ravioli, spaghetti, and 2 homemade meatballs with meat sauce). It was very tasty, and I am interested in trying the white garlic sauce there. The prices were pretty normal for an Italian place, and in fact seemed a bit low compared to other places around town.
It's getting close to two months since I have finished my thesis. I still can't believe I wrote a 113 page piece of research. The amazing thing is that I could have kept going. I even cut out a whole chapter that I had planned on writing. I am currently reading Dr. Futrell's Blood in the Arena. It is really interesting, and I should have used it more in my thesis. On second thought, I am glad that I didn't. It was hard enough getting it in on time as it was.
I still have not heard anything from any of the schools to which I applied. It is frustrating. Luke was accepted to Chicago and invited to visit Yale. Drew is supposed to visit Duke. Here I am just waiting and waiting. I really want to be accepted somewhere. At this point I am not picky. I have a slight hierarchy (Brown, Toronto, Penn State, Texas, Buffalo, Boston, Rutgers, Washington, and Oregon (?)), but being accepted anywhere would be great, and I would feel honored to attend any of these schools. The checking of emails ranges anywhere from 4-10 times a weekday. In fact, how about right now? Nothing. I have not started to call my parents because my dad called me immediately when something came from Oregon (just a confirmation of application and the verification number and what not).
Concerning applications of a different sort, I still have not found a job. I am only working about 6 hours a week at the Reffkin Tennis Center. I had 4 or so private lessons with a lady, Katya, from Switzerland. It was nice. She was friendly and a pretty good player. I wouldn't mind taking on more, but I am reluctant to work when Alex is off. That is also a factor in the amount of hours on Saturday. I don't know how much I really want to teach kids anyway. I still need a break from it. But yeah, nothing new on the old job search. I tried Bookman's, Baggin's, some banks but nothing yet. Compass Bank rejected me in 2 hours in fact. It was pretty funny. I got an email saying they were pursuing a different candidate, but I had applied for three positions which upon checking the site I had been rejected for all of them. I don't really know what jobs are out there or for what kind I should be looking. Alex tells me that I should leave master's degree off my resume as it over qualifies me for some jobs. She also says that she saw a report that a master's can actually make it harder to find a job. I feel weird about leaving it off though. It feels a little disingenuous, and I worked hard for that degree. Everyone fudges their applications though; don't they? Oh well. I have had some time to do a bit of cleaning around the apartment in between the email checking.
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