Cooler than You: Stupid Things I Say and Do

In light of other things . . . the greatest of the ooze that comes my way. I got this lovely from Mount Sinai Queens Hospital: So while my health insurance comes back sooner than not, I wouldn't go back here if someone paid me.  Aside from an asshat nurse, a doctor who borders on incompetent, a billing department that sent me a letter last fall saying they wanted me to call my insurance company and see where its payment was (for real!), and a lab that lost my blood-work and then the doctor called to say everything was fine (when two other MDs said it was not) . . . get the drift? I'll roll around in bloated Lupus hell first.   Yet, what is so perverse is the underlying implication that either it is ill-willing my not being ill and falling down on its door or that someone there knows I have days to live and won't let the secret out.  I vote that these chumps are just greedy bastards with a piss-poor PR team.   But, this is not my only encounter o...

Funny thing about college teaching . . . the first week is just that . . . and for the most part a wash of syllabi disbursement, the "this is what you will and will not do" lectures, and then the second class is disrupted by students with little sense of social decorum.  These are usually the ones who do not show up the first day of class.  Eh, don't get me wrong, I do what I love and love what I do . . . but, every now and then social disorder annoys me.   Along with the first week madness, there is the beginning of sign-ins.  Some students begin this task the first week.  Some start it the second week.  Most do it the second week, as the add-drop period ends.  Moments of advising the first week are never anything like the second, particularly if these students are in upper level seminars and grades have started coming in from the first week's assignments.  While advising times are established throughout the semester, any professor worth ...

Somewhere in here I might have forgotten to say that I'm running a 5K on 22 November. It's for the Arthritis Foundation, and this run is the Richmond, VA leg of the Jingle Bell Run. It's gonna be cold, I know. Probably not a keen mix for a Lupus girl, one with Raynaud's and Fibromyalgia, but it's all good. Arthritis goes with Lupus, you should be able to figure out why I know, so this one means something more than just making me get out the door everyday. I also have the obligatory obnoxious running hat and gloves. You know . . . goofy colors so that when you are chugging along the side of the roadway no one can miss you. See, here's proof I'm full force into the running train game again: https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=278027&supid=238035162 I'll have my 30 minute time back by then. Trust me. Those that have experience with me and the running know. . . been doing it for years. While I'm not stealer, I am funn...

This past January my Dad and I were perusing cheap bookstores in Chester, VA. Before I tell you about the bookstore, you should know that we had just come from JcPenneys. While there I used my trusty camera phone to take photos of some hideous prom dresses. They were white, with about twelve yards of white tulle, and they had black and gray sequins on them. I won’t post that photo here because I am sure that many a sixteen year old thought they were the coolest thing since sliced bread to wear to the prom. Now, for that bookstore . . . Dad and I went into a discount bookstore, and while perusing I came across what I can only call the dumbest book I have ever seen. Seriously. Now, if you need a book on how to be a sex goddess I personally think that you need to get out more. You know, there are these delightful places called BARS that anyone can be a goddess at. If you are low on self-esteem just walk into a trashy honky tonk. Drunk ...

Less than a week after Tanfer flew back to Turkey she not only told me she was going through shopping withdrawal, but she sent me the following email। From: TanferinTurkey@emails.com To:NessathePhD@emails.com July 2008 Subject: Coach ;) Let me know if you see these styles at the outlet (I'll tell my mom): The Hamptons Signature Carryall in brown and the Hamptons Signature Satchel in black। My response: From: NessathePhD@emails.com To: TanferinTurkey@emails.com Subject: Re: Coach ;) My Ode to Coach I wear it on my arm with pride, And I take it wherever I go. I tote it the grocery store, I tag it along at the beach, And I run with it when I need to hide. I am just another Coach whore। I love my Coach Look at it, ain’t it pretty? I’ll drive sixty miles to the nearest store, And blow every penny I have on . . . Ohhhh, look at the pretty purple one over there। I have pretty gold sandals, With delicious gold...