Yay Jilli!

::does happy dance of job acquisition::

Erasure. A Little Respect. I'm concerned about the lyrics, and that has nothing to do with respect, since I have little to none.

Okay, colour me intrigued - wherefore the concern? (Also - thanks for the earworm, mate!)

Good luck with negotiating the meeting with this girl, PC, if luck is what you want. (I'm not entirely sure whether you do actually want to find someone you might consider marrying at this point or not? So wishing you whichever outcome you most want.)

Meanwhile, I'm back home from a week or so in Cambodia, and reading The Lost Executioner, a biography of the Khmer Rouge torturer known as Duch who ran the S21 prison/torture facility (which we visited earlier in the week, before visiting the nearby killing fields where his victims were sent to be shot or bludgeoned to death) & who was responsible for the murder of upwards of 20,000 people.

I'm trying to educate myself about all this, since it's something I knew practically nothing about, and mostly I'm reeling, and then reeling some more, and worrying about the past and the present and the future.

The Killing Fields outside Phnom Penh (although there were killing fields in pretty much every town, from the sounds of it, where the Khmer Rouge took their victims) are peaceful. There are butterflies darting around, and flowers. The little museum there is fairly mind-blowing in its matter-of-fact account of what happened. It's both horrifying and profoundly pitiful.

What blew my mind even more, as we were walking around the area numbly, and reading the various signs, and seeing the roped-off sections that were mass graves (with little hand-painted signs saying 'please do not walk on the graves') was watching the father of one little family of tourists waving his wife and children off, and then getting his cock out and pissing on the grass a few yards away from one of the mass graves.

...

...

...really, I cannot begin to understand how someone could make the effort to go and visit this place (which involves hiring a tuktuk or a taxi or SOMETHING to get you there) and buy their tickets and visit the museum and then feel it was appropriate to PISS ON THE GRAVES.

(There were toilets available, however insalubrious they may or may not have been, about a thirty second walk from where he was busy pissing on the graves.)

Do. Not. Want.

On a more cheering note, though - holy CRAP, Angkor Wat was impressive.

Wow, Fay. Just. Wow.

Was up late re-reading Vampire People. I was just going to read a chapter for entertainment, but I suddenly ended up half way through the book. Fun times.

Job congratulations, Jilly! That's fantastic.

Erin, congrats on the house! Here's wishing you rain, working hard drives, and health.

P-C, glad to hear the presentation went well. Sounds like it was really good!

When I go on and on about that, even my friends, who I don't have to worry are evaluating me as a potential spouse, start to edge away and make excuses about going home to shampoo the carpet.

Heh.

I, too, would go with being yourself, P-C, even if that means an occasional comics mention. I've had a couple of blind dates, and they're rarely NOT awkward. But I'm sure that if you can manage to relax some, it will go better. Good luck with it!

Many wishes for less pain, Hil. PT screwing up your body is crap. I hope it eventually helps more than it hurts.

Erasure. A Little Respect. I'm concerned about the lyrics

Well, "What religion or reason / Could drive a man to forsake his lover" is sort of deep, in an 80s dance-pop way, but I don't know that it's worth worrying too much about.

Toast

There wasn't nearly enough mememememememe in that post, so here's a link that illustrates how I'm feeling about my dissertation at the moment: [link]

With that, I go to Uni-Whose-Facilities-I-Am-Borrowing to attempt to finish chapter and also to attempt not to start banging my head repeatedly against any fully-accessible computer keyboards.

No Christmas music allowed until AT LEAST after Nov. 17th.

That's....oddly specific!

My goal is to see whether she can take care of a house.

@@ I mean, I'm all for appreciating the cultural context of this wife search, but... jeez. The whole process is highly sexist.

But I have my cranky pants on, because I am sick, sick, sick and OMG DID I MENTION I TAKE MY MAKEUP COMP EXAM THIS WEEKEND????

The good news is, it doesn't appear to be the swine flu, just a really bad and icky and painful sore throat with a head cold as gift with purchase. It appears to be immune to advil, sudafed, and nyquil (well, the generic versions thereof.)

And I really, really don't want to fail this exam again. To be understated about it.

OK, in less grumpy mode:

YAY JILLI-JOB!

Hooray for erin's house! (sorry about the computer though)

It's sort of good that I'm at a conference and already in Meeting People I Don't Know mode,

Yeah, totally! Good perspective.

Also, WHOA, Fay.

Seska, have you ever read PhD-Piled High and Deeper? It's all about navigating dissertation and other fun grad school stuff.

I haven't talked to this girl at all, so it's essentially a blind date. Any blind date advice from previous blind date havers?

I met Lewis on a blind date. Of course, it was so blind, neither of us knew we were going on it. I was just in it for the wings. We were also set up by mutual friends who thought we'd have a ton in common and on the surface they were right, but in the long run, it's been the differences that have provided some of the best moments in our relationship. Some strife, too, obviously, but the differences I think are what make us interesting to each other. And of course, after twenty years, the changes we've both gone through.

Which does NOTHING to answer your question. Look-- you're meeting in a hotel lobby? Any chance there's a coffeeshop nearby? Get something to drink and just chat and you know... be normal people? (Crazed marriageminded parents notwithstanding?) Don't be afraid to mention you like comics, but like the others said, don't launch into a dissertation. Or if you do, be aware of it and be somewhat self-deprecating about it. Awareness is a big thing. Ask her what she's into. You know... be a nice guy.

Cheerios (and not the Sue Sylvester kind)

YAY erin on new housageness!

I'm so, so glad we have a wave of good news here. Hey, maybe the epidemic will stick to me (I feel like they universe owes me big time after my summer. Breaking most beliefs and Thing I Knew about the World without a proper support system or fair warning was more than I could handle rationally).

And a lot of ~mas to those who are coping with pain, stress and/or deadlines.

Okay, colour me intrigued - wherefore the concern? (Also - thanks for the earworm, mate!)

I just got the general notion that if someone doesn't love another romantically speaking, it considered to be a case of lack of respect. WTF? Love does not equal respect.

buy their tickets and visit the museum and then feel it was appropriate to PISS ON THE GRAVES.

Now that's a true, real case of said lack of respect.

I'm gonna bake muffins now.

Look-- you're meeting in a hotel lobby? Any chance there's a coffeeshop nearby?

Yeah, I believe that's the plan.

Don't be afraid to mention you like comics

It just may come up, since I am going to call my comic book store today and buy stuff over the phone during their sale.

In two hours, I speak on a panel about creative nonfiction. Man, my whole life is creative nonfiction.

Oh, Topic!Cindy, I sure hope that good~mapidemic will get to you, pronto. I really hope it's nothing~ma on the way to you.