I have a German quiz tomorrow, and in a few minutes, I am going to force myself to study for it. I thought that taking an introductory language class would be super-fun in my last semester of grad school. So far, it sucks, and I hate (HATE!) everything about my flimsy, unbound, “communicative-approach” textbook.

It was very cold today, like 3 degrees Fahrenheit (with a windchill of -11) when I woke up. I haven’t been running much these days, which should come as no surprise to anyone at all. Instead, I’ve been doing the Insanity workouts, which in case you’ve been living under a rock, are high-intensity cardio and plyometric drills. It definitely beats freezing my face off and slogging through winter miles that I don’t want to run. When I’m not lying in a puddle of my own sweat, I like to make up personalities, backstories, and imagined drama for each of the participants in the video.

In addition to German, I’m taking a class about using online media to teach language classes. As far as I can tell, the professor has designed it so that we get a good introduction to all his favorite online geekery, including Second Life. This is like a more advanced version of The Sims (which I never played), where you create an avatar and wander around in virtual worlds. So far, we’ve been learning to walk around, change our appearance, and buy stuff in SecondLife (so basically, goofing around as assigned by the professor). I tried to start the class with an open mind, but every time I have to log into the program, I find something new that I hate about SecondLife.  For example, on the first day of class, I somehow became a robot wearing a pirate dress with a lightbulb for a head. I also find it problematic that in SecondLife–unlike in First Life–you can’t default on your home mortgage payments, there is no overpopulation, and no one poops. Fiancé-friend is endlessly amused by my tales of failing miserably in the virtual realm, so perhaps I will share some of them with you later.

One of my goals this semester is to learn how to make good scones. I’ve never made them before, and I think it’s high time that I learned. I like the idea of having a leisurely weekend breakfast with tea and scones, topped with jam and butter. In this breakfast fantasy, I will also be stylish and in control of my life (in a non-neurotic way), and I will have studied for this horrible German quiz.

Kya took this cute picture of me and her dog Oscar on Friday. It’s one of the only photos of myself that I actually like recently, and this is my blog, so I will put it here. The end.

Now, die Hose, der Hut, die das Kleid, der Rock….