Omg... are you faux real?

P.P

One of my pet peeves (p.p.... get it?) happened last night. Twice, in fact.

I was out to dinner and then drinks with some friends and then THEIR friends came along too. When I met them, I of course say, "Nice to meet you." Most of the time that's fine... but there were two people who blurted out, "Oh, we've met before."

OK, so what does this accomplish other than trying to make me feel dumb that I don't remember them?

My rebuttal, as of late, has been crafted to communicate my annoyance with that response. Now it goes something like this:

Me: Nice to meet you
Them: Oh, we've met before
Me: Oh. I guess you're just not very memorable. (laugh and then shrug)

That shuts them up nicely.

It's different if someone says, "Oh, you know, we actually met before at Katie's party" or "Yeah, it's been a while" or something. It's very different to say, "Yeah, we've met before." Nothing good comes of that. It's not a reminder of how you met (Katie's party) so you could come back and say something like, "Ohh yeah, you were there with your friend Sarah" or "Oh yeah, I remember that Christmas party." No, it does no good.

Anyway. There are other pet peeves but I'm going to the gym for the second time today. I have some energy that should be expended. =)

Least of All Known Evils

As many of you may be, I've been reading about NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg as of late. It seems more likely that he's at least considering running for President in 2008. I was, of course, curious about his stances on gay rights. I had the impression that he was in favor of gay marriage but I didn't really have much of a reason for that impression. I found an interesting (and short) article about how he responded to the gay marriage ruling in NY in 2005/2006 and it's here. I obviously have more to investigate but it's a start, no?

Who knows... an incredibly wealthy and savvy businessman turned Independent politician running for President without a last name of Perot. Could it be? And if so, is he the worst choice? For those of us who are fiscally conservative yet not without social consciousness, maybe he's someone worthy of additional scrutiny and consideration. (Not that ANY of us are satisifed with our choices now: Guiliani, Romney, Thompson (the one that actually has a chance), Clinton and Obama? Eh. Happier with some than others (yes, I still like Obama but he's plateaued and/or faltered the last few months). Clinton's performance in the debates was pretty impressive, I'll say... but President Bloomberg? You heard it here first (probably not but it sounds good): he may not be the worst choice ever.

Oh, and P.S. They were talking about the King of Bhutan on the episode of West Wing so I looked him up. That's right, Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck was born 2 days after me, making me 2 days older than the King of Bhutan... so it's still a possibility that I could soon control the destiny of a small Asian nation.

Thanks

I couldn't have had a more wonderful graduation day today. Not only am I now "Anastacia Beaverhausen," M.A., but I had such a lovely evening on top of it.

D went with me to graduation which was genuinely appreciated. I was boring for me to sit through the 2 1/2 hour ceremony and *I* was the one that was graduating; D stuck with it and didn't complain. Then we went here which was JUST lovely. Amazing food, beautiful ambiance and charming music, and genuinely good company. It was one of the best evenings I've had living in Chicago.

That's all I got for now. I'm pretty proud of myself if I do say so myself. I earned my Masters degree with a 3.99 grade point average and have the distinct privilege to teach undergrad classes next year at a fantastic Chicago university. I'm so fortunate in so many ways.

Thanks again for coming, D. Sincerely appreciated.

Good night all.

Apparently...

Hi there, D. Apparently you've found my blog.

I gave my last lecture at my University on Wednesday. I still have 4 class meetings left and then the final but my last lecture is over and gone. I'm quite happy about that fact. I'm moving to another university to teach next year and I'm glad. I've heard [and I'm hoping] that the new school won't be full of as many whiny, entitled little brats who think they should get at least a B just because they go to the school. Yeah, it doesn't work that way. You have to come to class and learn things and then demonstrate that you've learned them in exams and papers. Call me crazy.

Have some fun things planned for the weekend. Then next week, I want to figure out what I'm doing with my summer and if I want to do something in addition to teaching classes next year. Not sure I'll have time to do it all but... we'll see.

So You Think You Can Dance is just getting started. Teaching is winding down. Life is good.