Thoughts of the Day

Student loans are very complicated. And I not cheered by the fact that I remember when one of my graduate school professors finally paid off the last of his student loans. He was, at the time, in his forties. And he had not paid for a veterinary education.

Why did the musicology gods think it was a good thing to have the AMS 50, AMS conference abstracts, and the SAM Mark Tucker prize submissions all due on the same day? Thank goodness I'm not a person of color, because the Howard Mayer Brown Fellowship was due on that day as well. Also, the privilege.

It's snowing here in Philadelphia, and I'm celebrating by making goulash. It's a chance to use the paprika given to us by my uncle-in-law, who bought it in a market in Bulgaria, and also to use our new dutch oven. However, I did not realize how long it would take to mince three onions.

I was idly watching Best in Show the other day. It is my second favorite Christopher Guest movie, behind Waiting for Guffman. A Mighty Wind was too glib, and For Your Consideration wasn't funny, it was seriously depressing. But re-watching Best in Show this time, now that I am a dog owner, became slightly depressing. Because although I am not involved in the world of pure breeds and dog shows, I highly identified with some of the characters. That scene where Parker Posey and her husband almost don't go to a party because they think their dog looks depressed? Been there. And when Parker Posey goes screaming around the hotel because she can't find her dog's stuffed toy named "Busy Bee"? Well, let's just say that Mabel has a certain stuffed Frankenstein monster--"Frankie"--and we do not travel without Frankie. Also, we have no less than three framed pictures of Mabel displayed prominently in our apartment. Who in their right mind would hire me?

I have no idea who this man is.