Recent job interview.

I went to an open call for servers at a recently-opened country-western themed tequila & sportsbar (the Hindi-themed nightclub didn't work out).

Anyhow, after I fill out a resume and the hiring manager walks up to bring me into the interview, he introduces himself, and is like, "Hi, I'm Dusty."

"No shit," I was like, "That's the perfect name to work here!"

Then, I was like, "Do I have to have a name like that to get hired?"

He didn't laugh.

Why I'm afraid to learn Hebrew.

I'd totally get hung up on the vowel points. I totally don't get how you can have ancient unvowelled manuscripts and then vowel points attested much later, and then "just read" the manuscript and not worry about that. I'm too linguistically neurotic/anal, I think.

Problems: Puzzles.

A couple years ago my parents got me a subscription for my favorite puzzle magazine, since I had used to subscribe years ago but then didn't do it so much, and cancelled the subscription.



Since they did that, I've done a ton of puzzles, but lately I find myself like at 11pm ready to go to bed, and I do a puzzle and then a second and then a third, and the next thing I know it's like 1:30am and I can't put the damn puzzle book down.



I got to stop that.

Problems: Job.

I still haven't found a part-time server job, the economy is so tough.

But, I figure I can live on savings and loans while I look, and worst case scenario I work the entire time on my dissertation and get at least a couple good chapters together to make sure I can get a fellowship next year, and if I have to, I take out unsubsidized loans in spring/summer when my money runs out, only to take out subsidized loans when they become available in the fall to pay off my other, on-worse-term loans.

But, I'm sure I'll get a job before then, and it's nice to have time off where I can focus on dissertation now, since I'll be able to get a couple conference presentations proposed by the winter, too.

Addendum.

I told that whole exchange to my one (black) (female) dean, and she thought it was hilarious how people from England are "persons of colour", and laughed, and was like, "You're so funny."

Text to my one British friend: Proper race terminology.

The other day me and my one half-British half-African friend were making plans to play Scrabble - his sister bought a set, and so they've been playing it a lot; his sister and brother-in-law live in the same neighborhood - and after that, I was thinking of the spelling of British words that are different from American, and then I got really please with myself and sent him a joking text -


Quick question - is it okay to call a non-caucasian from england a "person of colour"?



- to which he texted back -


Yeah, that's fine. Why?



...he didn't even get the joke...

Thoughts from that polygamist reality show...

I was talking with my one friend with the cat after we watched the show, and I was saying it's weird how the family is arguing for marriage recognition, but they'd turn around and vote against gay marriage, probably.

To which, she said that doesn't bother her as much; that happens in democracy all the time, where one party tries to vote away the rights of another. To her, the more interesting thing is when religious groups prevent education for certain members of the group (e.g. women), and so prevents them having the basic prereqs to participate in civil discourse in the country that guarantees the overall group religious freedom.