What's all this?

I took the liberty of posting some photos from Keri and Aaron's lovely shin-dig. Big 'n' Beefy can beat me up for this later. The rest of you can help think of more clever captions. 

I don't know what's going on here, so someone clue me in. 

Rachel and Beth

 

Rachel and Beth

 

First Dance

 

A Toast

 

How Sweet

Keri, we must know: Were the strawberries a way of getting around getting caked in the face? 

The Littlest Guests

 

The Kiss

 

Beautiful Bride

Handsome Groom

At Keri's "Bachlorette" Party

hello?

Hello? Anyone out there? Just checking ...

Kooky corporate culture or just California?

It's a rare day that I beat Carl home from school, so I'm plopping down on my computer chair and entertaining myself. I guess I could do something novel like make dinner, but we already decided to have something that involves lighting the barbecue pit and seeing as how I have an unnatural fear of fire, dinner's going to have to wait until he gets home.

I'm a little annoyed with work lately, so I dwell on meaningless stuff. The thing that's been grating me today--my coworkers' attire. The company's part of the Fortune 100, so you'd think people would be a dress code or something. But then again, this is Cali, and people are weird. The woman who has the office next to my cubicle (poor little peon me) outclasses all of us, always in the neatest little suits. And then there are the scads of women who walk around the cubicle farm in stillettos (Um, why? They just look painful), and I saw a woman today who combined that look with the other shoe trend at my office (red) and had red stillettos. (With the rest of the outfit it looked really trashy). My boss's boss comes to work in sweats, and one of the youngish (ok, our age) guys has mutton chops. Yes, mutton chops. Not shaggy, gotta-trim-these-soon sideburns. Mutton chops. Makes me (almost) homesick for conformist khakis.

I had to edit this to add this comment: The art director (yet another boss) came in today in a 70's style green shirt with ruffles. Last week he shaved off his Elvis-bouffant haircut and walked around in a fedora, that was until I laughed at him. These people are weird, I tell you.

I'm going back to Lex next weekend for Carl's 5-year reunion. Anybody need anything?

The Book Club

Alright--so Keri and I (and Alice, if she has time!) are beginning the book club, so that we can go to bed at night thinking, "I learned something today). We are reading _The Corrections_, by Jonathan Franzen. (I just spelled "by" as "buy," and had to back and change it. Shows why I shouldn't be writing this early in the morning). I actually have to go out and buy the book, but it is easily available, so I encourage Amy and Aaron to buy it, too, if they are reading this blog and what to join in. Anyway, in the next day or so, once I have the book in hand, I'll try to set up a calendar of reading... Keri--want to edit it for me? We both need to confirm that we are not trying to read too much...

Lost in cyberspace

Anyone out there?

I was thinking...any desire to start an online book club? I need intellectual stimulation. My cat (Dudley) is clearly not enough company...

Things I wish I'd known

Time to answer my own question:

1) I wish I'd known that there is a surplus of PhDs in this country and that so many are wandering around without jobs.

2) I wish I'd known how much it costs to pay for an independent medical insurance plan.

3) I wish I'd known that most people (even W&L grads, despite what our alumni magazine would have you believe) have at least one (if not many) jobs that they don't really like, if not actually despise.

4) I wish I'd known that your parents become people who need your help.

I'm sure there are more, but my mind is not working this morning. More thinking is in order. It sounds like I'm grumbling a lot. I promise I'm not really that pissed off about my life; I'm just quite reflective these days. I guess I should also note that it's not that I didn't know these things. It's more that I just never thought about them when I was graduating from college.

Anyway, I'm off to do some grading, drink some coffee and make a big, fat omelette for breakfast... Have a great day!

Jobs

I, too, have thought about law school, but then I remember that the only kind of law I would like to perform would be law that would not make any money. That, in itself, doesn't bother me, but I render myself queasy at the thought that I would go into large amounts of debt from which I would never emerge! Plus, I was recently listening to some good ol' John Grisham on a book on tape (I commute a lot these days, but that's another story), and he referred to law school as the babysitter for middle class twenty-somethings. Kinda a cruel thing to say, but I see his point: too many people (apparently) go to law school because they are not quite sure what else to do. Still, the thought continues to traverse my mind... (btw: Amy--I am totally intrigued by your new job! You must have bizarre stories to tell...)

As for Keri's comment to my post--glad to know I am not the only one out there with job identity issues. My story is a bit different, but we have the same concerns. Currently, I am moving out of adjuncting teaching, which has been interesting. People not in academia always appear quite impressed that I teach at UCONN. They clearly think I am a professor (even when I try to clarify things) and that I do well for myself. What's funny is that, while many people I meet (usually Elliot's parents' friends; I don't really know people my own age anymore) seem to look at me with respect, I know that within academia I am the very lowest on the totem pole. As an adjunct, universities specifically limit how much you can teach so that they do not have to give you medical benefits or a pension plan. Although I have not had this happen to me, I have read about a plethora of cases where adjuncts lack offices, photocopying allotments, and can have their courses yanked with days of the start a semester, leaving them with no income at a moment's notice. Furthermore, within academia, faculty often look at adjuncts as the one's who "couldn't hack it," and thus deserving of their position. My point is not to rant about the situation (although I can do that forever), but to note the bizarre conflict in my situation: some seem impressed by me, but I am anything but impressed. Hence, I am getting out, which means now people who were once impressed now seem disappointed since I'll no longer be "a professor," although I never was one to begin with!!

Enough about me!

Amy, what other bizarre jobs have you had?

Keri, at what point are you in you teaching career (are you certified? Master's in something? Currently with a job?)? Forgive me for being so clueless!

Alice, when do you go back to work??