Quinn's Year in Review

Cribbing from Andy, I give you the year that was for Quinn the Brain:

January: Quinn begins adjuncting. We deal with the aftermath of a big windstorm, repairing fence, swingset, and playing with chainsaws. And smelling pine-fresh.

February: Quinn loves teaching (and Peyton Manning). And there occurred a very vibrant discussion of blonde jokes and my own personal history with them.

March: March Madness with appropriate pro-Ducks sentiment. And DQ becomes a proud woman of color.

April: Mobutu Sese Seko lurks in my subconscious. I debate giving up on research. I get a job offer. That I accept. And I have my own IHOP Moment of Clarity.

May: Some happiness posting, including some crochet projects and a fun discussions on politically appropriate novels.

June: Rollin' with the Hindus and emulating pirates.

July: Pottering. With Spoilers.

August: A slow blogging month, perked up with a Shane Battier cameo.

September: Big Daddy Tater Tots, being haunted by Roman Grant and Matt Damon, and some news that is less than uplifting. Oh, and I start my new job.

October: Teaching is awesome! Except for the whole "who killed Christ" debate. And I prove once and for all that I am the worst wife ever.

November: I adjust to full-time employment (although my boobs don't.) And we begin the cooperative effort that is the Our Fifty States Pop Culture extravaganza.

December: Unicorns!

This just in: Tejas is a Red State

Bumper stickers spotted during this visit that haven't been visible anywhere in the Pacific Northwest:

Fred '08

Huckabee for President

Posted without Comment

Dickie V sidelined by surgery until at least February.

Ack!

Getting set for the trip down south. Blogging will be sporadic.

Our Fifty States, musical edition

This is perhaps the easiest of them all. ANd in that case, I may ask people to create their own list of all fifty states, rather than just contributing to a Neel-compiled master list (thanks, by the way).

The rules: the song must mention the state in its lyrics. Provide artist and song title.

Here's what I've got so far, in black. Highlight if you want to see:


AK: "North to Alaska"
AL: Lynnard Skynnard, "Sweet Home Alabama"
AR: Cry Cry Cry, "Shades of Grey"
AZ: Jackson Browne, "Take it Easy"
CA: Mamas and the Papas, "California Dreaming"
CO: John Denver, "Rocky Mountain High"
CT:
DC: Dar Williams, "Southern California wants to be Western New York"
DE: Moxy Fruvous, "The Lowest Highest Point" (K, is this cheating?)
FL: Patty Griffin, "Florida"
GA: Traditional, "Marching through Georgia"
HI: Elvis Presley, "Blue Hawaii"
IA: Dar Williams, "Iowa"
ID:
IL:
IN: Richard Shindell, "The Next Best Western"
KS: John Denver, "Matthew"
KY: Neil Diamond, "Kentucky Woman"
LA: Chuck Berry, "Johnny B. Goode"
MA:
MD:
ME:
MI: Simon and Garfunkel, "America"
MN: Indigo Girls, "Ghost"
MO: Cry Cry Cry, "Cold Missouri Waters"
MS: Indigo Girls, "Ghost"
MT: Jimmy Buffett, "Come Monday"
NC: is using James Taylor cheating? I don't think he actually says "North"
ND: Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Dani California"
NE: Bruce Springsteen, "Nebraska"
NH:
NJ: Simon and Garfunkel, "America"
NM:
NV: Sheryl Crow, "Leaving Las Vegas"
NY: Sinatra, "New York, New York"
OH: Richard Shindell, "The Next Best Western"
OK: Broadway soundtrack, Oklahoma!
OR: Shawn Mullins, "Twin Rocks Oregon"
PA: ???, "Pennsylvania 6-5000"
SC:
SD:
TN: Arrested Development, "Tennessee"
TX: ???, "Yellow Rose of Texas"
UT:
VA: Eddie from Ohio, "Old Dominion"
VT:
WA: Dar Williams, "Southern California wants to be Western New York"
WI:
WV: John Denver, "Take me home, Country Roads"
WY: Bruce Springsteen, "Nebraska"

Things that are cool

• Grades are reported, and I'm done!!!!
  
• Two of my classes have already filled for winter term
  
• Unicorns
  
• Being on vacation (although of course I should be working on my article edits)
  
• Compliments I get from my students. Not the standard, "I liked your class," but strangely revealing ones like, "You look a lot taller when you're up there lecturing" and "How come nobody ever taught me this before?!?"

Why does this make me so happy?

Here Comes Another Bubble - The Richter Scales

Won't I blog about this song? Yes. And that's not just because I know (and lurve) the guy who sang it/wrote it/produced it.

Our Fifty States, part II

We did pretty well on the film version (damn you, Delaware!), so let's try our hand at television. The game: name a television show set in each of the fifty states.

Once again, I'll start the ball rolling, midwest style:

Wisconsin: That 70s Show
Minnesota: Little House on the Prairie
Michigan: Home Improvement

The First Snow

Not that you can see it in this photo, but Drama Queen could:

What goes around comes around

Well, no new developments with Cigarette Guy, but I think I may have stuck my foot a considerable way into my mouth in that very class.

We were discussing things we liked about the class and things that could be improved, so it was a fairly informal conversation. One of my students, for whom English is not his first language, suggested, "We could do some role-playing."

I replied, without thinking, "That could be fun." And one of my students lost it. Laughed for the better part of five minutes. I guess he read a little more into the exchange than either I or the other student meant.

Oops. Guess it happens to the best of it.




ps. I wonder what that would look like? "This time I'll be the pirate and you be the lusty wench!" "I'll be the despotic ruler and you be the helpless peasant!" Or simply, "It's good to be the king."