Serotonin rose dramatically today: the new happy thread

[milesofsparks]

Re Peter- it's a long story, but in essence I feel perfectly capable but underqualified.  It's just a letters-after-my-name thing.  (I was being mildly facetious.)

You mean youre not a real doctor?
I feel so... I don't know what to say... I...

but he plays one on teh internets.  so it's OK. 

also, dibs on Serotonin Rose.

also, I had an awesome old skool night with friends I've known forever at a d/l = hip bar that they used to go to afterparties at in the 80s and we talked about old times when hookers and junkies hung out under the bridge in the hood and the candy shop sold candy-thats-a-not-so-sweet.  it was ineffably awesome.  drunken nostalgia is such a comfort in old age.

[Doctor Bob]

Re Peter- it's a long story, but in essence I feel perfectly capable but underqualified.  It's just a letters-after-my-name thing.  (I was being mildly facetious.)

You mean youre not a real doctor?
I feel so... I don't know what to say... I...

but he plays one on teh internets.  so it's OK. 

And I'm very good with my hands.

*** *** ***

OT: Iron & Wine in three hours.  And counting...

[elpollodiablo]

Just got a big ol' grant approval for travel to a conference in the spring. Woot!

[hannah]

Awesome, Miles. Where is the conference being held?

[elpollodiablo]

...Louisville. Which, you know, whatever. That's cool. Woulda been nice if it were MPLS or Philly like it's been in years past, but... meh! I'm more enthralled by the fact that I can apparently write a damn good grant proposal . The English dept has applied for this thing five years running and has been turned down four times. An old prof of mine asked me to submit a paper and tapped me to write the application.

I'm just pretty pleased with myself today. Also saw another prof today who is basically a little ball of good vibes and positive energy and she gave me a lil pep talk about grad school.

Also it feels like October, finally!

[girl]

Wow, that is a good day!

 

[elpollodiablo]

Not bad! Plus I built a go-cart powered by my own sense of self-satisfaction

[RoyBiggins]

I do love a good Ed Begley Jr joke.

[andronicus]

...Louisville. Which, you know, whatever. That's cool. Woulda been nice if it were MPLS or Philly like it's been in years past, but... meh! I'm more enthralled by the fact that I can apparently write a damn good grant proposal . The English dept has applied for this thing five years running and has been turned down four times. An old prof of mine asked me to submit a paper and tapped me to write the application.

I'm just pretty pleased with myself today. Also saw another prof today who is basically a little ball of good vibes and positive energy and she gave me a lil pep talk about grad school.

Also it feels like October, finally!

Are you kidding me Lousiville is way cooler than MPLS.  It's so nice in the spring too, I'm envious.

[elpollodiablo]

Really? I've never been to Louisville; I'm just generally prejudiced when it comes to the South. I actually liked MPLS quite a bit for the short time I was there.

[Greg Nog]

I do love a good Ed Begley Jr joke.

Ordinarily, I do too, but I was disappointed here, 'cause at first I was like "HOLY CRAP POLLO BUILT A GO-CART THAT IS FUCKING SWEET"

[andronicus]

Louisville is definitely not a 'Southern City'.  It has a huge Catholic population, and I think is more like Cincy or St. Louis.  Although nicer than either of those would suggest.  Anyway there's some cool shit there.  Heather seemed hell of skeptical when she was there but we didn't spend enough time; seriously it's a totally cool city to live in and visit.

[DCDave]

Writing a good grant application has a lot to do with recognizing that money has value and does not spring magically forth from mommy and daddy, a fact which most undergraduates are ignorant of

[andronicus]

Hey, thanks for that.

[elpollodiablo]

It is basically a place to live in or visit.

Cincy's cool, though not my favorite place in the world. The capital o' Kentucky, the locals say.
I know Louisville has some character; it's just not topping my list of cities to visit, is all.
Any suggestions for what to do while there? Some good bars downtown? A corner on which to buy DEM RED TOPS?

[dieblucasdie]

Writing a good grant application has a lot to do with recognizing that money has value and does not spring magically forth from mommy and daddy, a fact which most undergraduates are ignorant of

It springs magically forth from the federal government, amiright?

[elpollodiablo]

Writing a good grant application has a lot to do with recognizing that money has value and does not spring magically forth from mommy and daddy, a fact which most undergraduates are ignorant of

It's true! I propose a mandatory class in which the course work consists of trying to pay tuition, insurance, bills and rent on a $200/wk. paycheck. Then the final exam consists of watching your other classmates use their emergency credit cards to buy booze and handbags while you count change on the counter to buy a frozen burrito.

[DCDave]

Writing a good grant application has a lot to do with recognizing that money has value and does not spring magically forth from mommy and daddy, a fact which most undergraduates are ignorant of

It springs magically forth from the federal government, amiright?

Well, you need some data that provides validation and the ability to say "public good" a lot when you're asking for money from the federal government, in my experience.  Also, you need to put something extraneous in your proposal that you don't want, but label it as an "option".  Then, when the federal government is evaluating your capability to manage something, they will target that and say "Hey, they gave us options, that means they have priorities and understand that we have somewhat limited resources!"

What I meant was: "Hey elpollodiablo, I know you hate your classmates and hate having to work when they don't, but at least it helps you write a killer grant app!"

[DCDave]

Writing a good grant application has a lot to do with recognizing that money has value and does not spring magically forth from mommy and daddy, a fact which most undergraduates are ignorant of

It's true! I propose a mandatory class in which the course work consists of trying to pay tuition, insurance, bills and rent on a $200/wk. paycheck. Then the final exam consists of watching your other classmates use their emergency credit cards to buy booze and handbags while you count change on the counter to buy a frozen burrito.

It's funny how the quality of a frozen burrito is essentially inverse to cost, which is to say that Tina's burritos are awesome and Amy's burritos taste like something unpleasant wrapped in another unpleasant thing.

[dieblucasdie]

Writing a good grant application has a lot to do with recognizing that money has value and does not spring magically forth from mommy and daddy, a fact which most undergraduates are ignorant of

It's true! I propose a mandatory class in which the course work consists of trying to pay tuition, insurance, bills and rent on a $200/wk. paycheck. Then the final exam consists of watching your other classmates use their emergency credit cards to buy booze and handbags while you count change on the counter to buy a frozen burrito.

It's funny how the quality of a frozen burrito is essentially inverse to cost, which is to say that Tina's burritos are awesome and Amy's burritos taste like something unpleasant wrapped in another unpleasant thing.

The $0.99 burritos from Walgreens that I routinely eat disprove this hypothesis.

Damn it now I want a burrito. 

[kadiekatRN]

The best frozen burritos are the ones from Trader Joe's.  They rank in price somewhere between Amy's and Tina's, and outrank both in deliciousness.

[DCDave]

Are they better than Tina's?  I don't understand because that is some crazy talk.  Maybe I convince myself that Tina's are so delicious because they only cost $.20

[dieblucasdie]

Man, I can never find the Tina's bean and cheese anymore, just the beef, which makes me sad.

I've never seen them for less than 1.50.  You are lucky.

[elpollodiablo]

I was envisioning like those awful things they sell at Speedway

[Andrew_TSKS]

hah, blucas just described how i ordinarily eat.

on the other hand, though, living like that has gastrointestinal consequences that are starting to bum me out lately.

EDIT: blucas completely changed the text of that post while i was writing this one! now my post makes no sense! before he was talking about how you could spend $6 or something on groceries and make a whole lot of burritos for yourself at home. which is how i eat on the regular.

on another note, since this is the happy thread, i want to mention that i've been struggling with depression a lot lately, and that getting into the habit over the last week or two of going for a late-night walk in my neighborhood every night has been doing wonders for my mental state. i guess it's that whole thing they say about exercise getting endorphins going and all that. i can be sitting around my house grumpy and bummed out and i go out and walk for 20 minutes and i come home feeling really upbeat, which will last through the rest of the night and help me get to sleep better, instead of staying up staring at my ceiling and feeling crappy. it's been really nice.