A moment of silence for my iPod

It's almost 1 am and the house is quiet. Maranda even has a friend spending the night and I think they're actually asleep. I guess they've been worn out by a long week at school. I probably should go to sleep also, but I'm not really sleepy right now.

We've got another snowstorm coming sometime tomorrow (later today actually) and they're forecasting up to a foot of snow in this system that will be here through Sunday. I still have some stocking stuffers to buy (almost all of them) and I think I'd better get it done on Saturday. I'm not sure if I'll have time, though. We've also got tickets for us to go to a hockey game tomorrow night. I think it will be fun, but am a little disappointed that we didn't think to get tickets to the game against the Lincoln Stars (our former home team).

My frustration of the week is that my ipod died. :( Poor thing. I've had it since Christmas 2004 and it's just given up. The hard drive in it has gone bad. Since I listen to my ipod to go to sleep at night, my nightly routine was totally screwed up the night that I discovered this. Thankfully, the next night Mark let me borrow his ipod mini. However, I tried syncing it with one music playlist (all my xmas music) and just a few of the podcasts that I wanted to listen to and it said that there wasn't enough room. I kept cutting back on the podcasts until there were only 3-30 minute podcasts. His ipod mini is only 1 gb and hardly anything fits on it! But, it's better than nothing. The night that I figured out my ipod died though, I was super close to just getting on the apple website and ordering a new nano. Then, I had a BRILLIANT idea! I need an iPhone. My palm pilot has also been doing some crazy things lately, too. This also leads me to believe that I need an iPhone. :)

I brought it up with Mark the other day and he didn't completely freak out. Now, I've spent some time researching online, talking to a friend that works at the Apple store and getting advice from some other friends. I think I've decided that I need a 16gb iPhone which is $299. Now, I need to talk to AT&T to see if our account has me being eligible for a new phone sometime soon. This puts me in Phase Three of Operation iPhone. Phase Four will be me figuring out the funding for said iPhone and Phase Five will be going to the AT&T store in the mall and buying one! I'll be sure to keep everyone updated. :)

I've seen 93 out of 239 films

SUPPOSEDLY if you’ve seen over 85 films, you have no life. Mark the ones you’ve seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own blog, Facebook account or website, paste this as a note or blog entry. Then, put X’s next to the films you’ve seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun.

(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
() Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
() Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
(x) Starsky and Hutch
() Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
Total: 7

(x) The Princess Bride
(x) Anchorman
(X) Napoleon Dynamite
() Labyrinth
() Saw
( ) Saw II
(x) White Noise
() White Oleander
() Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
() The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 13


() Scream
() Scream 2
() Scream 3
() Scary Movie
() Scary Movie 2
() Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
() American Pie 2
() American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far:14

(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
() Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
() Little Black Book
() The Village
(X) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far:20

(x) Finding Nemo
() Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
(x) The Grinch
(x) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
() White Chicks
() Butterfly Effect
() 13 Going on 30
() I, Robot
(x) Robots
Total so far: 25

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
() Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
() Along Came Polly
(x) Deep Impact
() KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
() Eight Crazy Nights
() Joe Dirt
(x) KING KONG
Total so far: 32

(X) A Cinderella Story
() The Terminal
(x) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
() Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
() Final Destination
() Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(x) Halloween
() The Ring
() The Ring 2
() Surviving X-MAS
(x) Flubber
Total so far: 37

() Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x) Practical Magic
() Chicago
() Ghost Ship
() From Hell
() Hellboy
() Secret Window
() I Am Sam
(X) The Whole Nine Yards
(x) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 40

(X) The Day After Tomorrow
() Child’s Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
() Bride of Chucky
() Ten Things I Hate About You
() Just Married
( ) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
(X) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
(x) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
(x ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 47

(x) Bad Boys
() Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
() Lucky Number Slevin
(x) Ocean’s Eleven
() Ocean’s Twelve
() Bourne Identity
() Bourne Supremecy
() Lone Star
() Bedazzled
(x) Predator I
() Predator II
( ) The Fog
(X) Ice Age
(X) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
() Curious George
Total so far: 52

(X) Independence Day
(x) Cujo
() A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
() Christine
(x) ET
() Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
() Maid in Manhattan
() War of the Worlds
() Rush Hour
() Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 55

( ) Best Bet
() How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
() She’s All That
() Calendar Girls
() Sideways
(X) Mars Attacks
() Event Horizon
() Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
() Big Trouble in Little China
() The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
() The Terminator 3
Total so far:59

() X-Men
() X-2
() X-3
(x) Spider-Man
() Spider-Man 2
(x) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(X) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday (the original only!)
() Reign of Fire
() The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
() Cruel Intentions 2
() The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
Total so far: 67

() Swimfan
() Miracle on 34th street
(x) Old School
() The Notebook
(X) K-Pax
() Krippendorf’s Tribe
(x) A Walk to Remember
(x) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
() The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far:71

() Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
() Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
() Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 74

() Baseketball
() Hostel
(x) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
() Highlander
() Mothman Prophecies
(x) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 77

( ) The Jacket
() Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
() Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 80

( ) High Tension
() Club Dread
() Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(X) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(x) Waterworld
Total so far: 83

() Kill Bill vol 1
() Kill Bill vol 2
() Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
() Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
() Army of Darkness
Total so far: 83

(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(X)Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(X) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
() Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
() Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 89

(X) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
() The Matrix Revolutions
()Animatrix
() Evil Dead
(x) Evil Dead 2
( Team America: World Police
() Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
() Hannibal
Total so far: 93

Now Add them up and…

Put “I’ve seen [however many] out of 239 films” in the subject line and repost it on Facebook or your blog. And for that matter, leave a comment here to let me know how many you've seen or comments about any of the movies I've seen. :)

Inspiration

I was asked/told today at Noon today that I needed to say something inspirational at the conclusion of the dinner recognizing this semester's Emerging Leader group. Emerging Leaders is a program for first-semester first-year (or freshmen) students that groups them with an upperclass student to complete a project on campus or in the community.

Here's what I came up with this afternoon:

First of all, congratulations on and thank you for all your hard work this semester. You've accomplished so much. It's impressive to have seen throughout the semester and to hear more tonight about all the projects that were able to happen because of you.

Second, your participation in the Emerging Leaders program has prepared you to continue serving and leading your peers, the college and the greater community. You may have discovered how you'd like to continue to do these types of things through your project, you may yet learn it through your apprenticeship (if you're participating in that program) or it may still be out there waiting to be discovered.

Third, I hope you decide to continue to seek out opportunities for leadership on campus through service trips, working for and with a student organization or an office, participating in the annual leadership retreat, participating in the leadership certificate program in your junior or senior year or even by becoming a Leadership Studies minor.

In closing, I'd like to share a quote by Winston Churchill:

"To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment
When they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder
and offered the chance to do a very special thing,
unique to them and fitted to their talents.

What a tragedy if that moment finds them
unprepared or unqualified for that
which could have been their finest hour."

I think our campus is the place where students are "tapped" on the shoulder. It could be by faculty, staff, other students or even yourself. And, programs like Emerging Leaders help you to find that very special thing - whatever it may be. Thanks again for participating in the Emerging Leaders program and preparing yourself for that moment.

Education vs. Advocacy

This morning I mentioned that sometimes my values conflicted with the Catholic values of my workplace. When I interviewed for this position, I asked a lot of questions about the values of the college and how it “lived” its Catholic identity. I felt like the responses I received indicated that this wasn’t an ordinary Catholic college, but it leaned a little more liberally than most. One of the things I felt supported this was the existence of an LGBTQ ally student organization. For this reason and many others, I took the position.

Throughout the 2+ years I’ve been in my position, I’ve had the opportunity to work with the LGBTQ group and really appreciate the students that work with the organization. The students realize that being at a Catholic college means that many students disagree with the activities that they’re planning and they go the extra mile to make sure that all events are educational and emphasize the Catholic tradition of human dignity. I’ve been impressed by their hard work in this area.

Last year, we hired a new Vice President and through, I think, the process of trying to educate her about the college our Assistant Vice President has mentioned a number of times in a number of places that when the LGBTQ student organization was recognized it was made clear that their purpose was “education not advocacy.” That was 10-12 years ago. This woman says this so often that I wonder what her agenda is with this particular group, but to be fair she’s the only person that was really at the college when the group was recognized and that would have this knowledge.

Since I’ve been there, the LGBTQ group has updated their constitution and included that advocacy is one of their roles on campus. And, this woman knows about it and has said a couple of times how me or someone in my office should be reviewing every single updated constitution that comes into our office and somehow notified this group that their new update didn’t fit with the parameters set when they were originally recognized. Those parameters are not in writing anywhere and there is no other evidence that the conversation occurred, although I’m sure it probably did happen. So, how I was supposed to know this was an issue when they turned in their constitution, I don’t know. Plus, that’s not something we do with any other student organization and I believe it’s unethical to have one rule for this organization that no other organization has.

So, fast forward to last Friday when the president of the organization sent an email to the Vice President asking for permission to put together an outdoor display on campus for Transgender Day of Remembrance this week. Instead of forwarding the information to me (since I’m the one that works with these cases), she forwarded it to the other Vice Presidents of the institution and asked for input about their display because of another display that occurred a couple of weeks ago and upset some students. So, of course, she got all kinds of feedback that wasn’t helpful and then forwarded the information to me and told me to take care of it. And, she specifically told me that I needed to remind them that their purpose was specifically to educate not advocate. So, I composed an email back to the student letting her know what steps she needed to take and included that I needed to tell them about educating not advocating. I mean…she’s my boss’s boss. I need to do what she says. It’s not like I have tenure or something.

I found out today that the president and vice president of the LGBTQ group were upset and went to talk with another staff member in my office about it on Friday because I was in a meeting or something. Part of what is upsetting to me is that I feel very strongly about how important it is for all students to feel accepted on campus and the LGBTQ students on campus don’t often feel accepted in that Catholic environment. And, while I know these students, they don’t know me so well as to automatically know that these are not my personal feelings. Thankfully, I had the opportunity to talk with one of the students this afternoon.

But, here’s what I find most upsetting. When I look up the true definition of advocate, it says that it’s “to speak or write in favor of” or “support or urge by argument.” When I think of the advocacy this group does, it relates to supporting the human dignity of LGBTQ students, speaking in favor of their rights to talk about sexual orientation and to plead the case to be yourself. All of these things I personally support. Who wouldn’t? However, it seems to me that the advocacy that would concern the college is that they must think that the LGBTQ group is speaking in favor of or urging by argument other students to be gay that wouldn’t otherwise be gay. Perhaps, their numbers are down and they need to recruit. Maybe, they’re earning a commission for everyone they convert. One friend jokingly told me today that perhaps they’re trying to earn a toaster for their “sales” incentive. ☺

The Catholic Church has said they are accepting that homosexuality exists, but you shouldn’t act upon it because it is wrong. (Now, my paraphrasing may not have this exactly, but I know it’s the basic gist.) So, the other way the college may be interpreting advocacy tells me that we might be seriously expected to tell students to not live authentically and speak their truth to others. This interpretation is what has me so upset. I mean the first interpretation I provided is just silly…right? But, this one is the one with the most insidious effects. Really…telling 18-22 year-old students who are just getting to know themselves to not live in a way that’s authentic to who they are. It’s hard enough to live authentically at such a young age because you really are just getting to know yourself outside of your parents’ home and have the opportunity to really make yourself into the person you’re going to be. Why would we encourage students to not live the life they are discovering to be their own?

I know I often have strong opinions and I’m the first person to say that people are idiots, but I would never expect someone to live a lie, because I feel that’s the message being sent.

So, now the question is, how do I help this group with the educational display and program that they want to put up and should have the right to display without getting myself fired? This is my project for the next few days and if you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

Randomness - What else do you expect at 12:30 a.m.

Well, I got home from work feeling like I might really get something done tonight, like read a few journal articles or work on organizing our "office" stuff in the basement. And, as soon as I got home from dropping Maranda and her friend off at school for their dance, I promptly fell asleep on the couch. Luckily, the friend's Mom was picking the girls up after the dance. So, Maranda got dropped off. I woke up briefly when she came home and promptly fell back asleep until Mark got home about an hour later. Now, he's gone to bed and I'm not tired. And, instead of being productive in the ways I was thinking before, I'm sitting here at the computer doing more fun stuff. :)

I really do need to get motivated and get these articles read and start truly working on my dissertation proposal. I absolutely must get this whole thing done and defended before August 1, so I can be eligible for the August graduation. I'd like to be able to participate in the commencement ceremonies, but since they'll be a 10-hour drive from home and right when work will really start picking up for the beginning of the school year I might not be able to pull that off.

I printed off about 20 or so articles at work yesterday and today. I'm wondering if someone in Computer Services is going to notice the huge number of pages I printed and yell at me. I'll have to report back if that happens.

We got a second computer a few weeks ago, so I could get Mark and Maranda off mine. I was hoping that might help inspire me to get more work done. There is always somebody in the house that wants to be on a computer. And, the other computer is a PC since that was what Mark was more accustomed to before we moved here and got rid of the old PC during our move. Someone in our office was getting rid of an old one so it was a good deal. Now, we need a desk for it. Right now it's sitting on a 6 ft. folding table that was meant to house all my "crafty" stuff. I hope we can get a desk tomorrow. That means the few boxes still sitting under the folding table should probably be gone through and organized.

My mother-in-law is coming for Thanksgiving, which gets Mark in this mood that the house must be perfect. So, that's another reason for getting these last few things put away. We did get the spare bedroom all done. We finally got the horrible wallpaper and dirt bike border taken down and the walls painted. We got a new bed for Maranda and put her old twin bed in the spare room. Now, Grandma has a real bed to sleep in without making Maranda sleep on the couch while she's here.

We had a frame for an antique 3/4 bed and ordered a custom cut box spring and mattress for it. Maranda loves it and isn't sure how she fit in her twin bed now. A 3/4 bed is the length of a full (I think it's a little longer than the twin) and 10 in. wider than the twin, which isn't quite as wide as a full. Anyway, she loves it. It's an even better big girl bed. :)

Well, since I'm up and not really tired, perhaps I should really be doing something.

Sometimes I'm Pissy About Work...did you know that?

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted on here. I'm sitting here at the computer trying not to obsess about work, so I figure I'll tell you all about it. Then, maybe I can go to sleep. (I promise I'll try to post more often.)

Today at work, I sent an email to the adviser, the student who is president and a student planning an event for Habitat for Humanity. In a couple of weeks, they're having "Shack-a-Thon" where students build "shacks" out of cardboard boxes and sleep in them overnight as a part of Poverty Awareness Week. It's an annual event. Last year, it was very cold overnight. We had a couple of parents call to complain that their students were told they couldn't go inside. There have also been issues in the past with drunk students that didn't start out with the event, but somehow ended up inside a "shack" with participants. Or, the drunk students passing by have been disruptive to the event. Often, the event is covered by our local news media and sometimes there have been some borderline inappropriate actions happening in the background on television. So, you can see that our VP of Student Affairs might have some concerns about the event, right? And, I knew it would be helpful to try to be proactive this year.

So, back to our story...I sent this email to the adviser, president and member who is planning the event that explained some of the concerns, suggested a couple of resources for them to use in trying to deal with those issues and telling them if they have concerns or questions to call, stop by or email. I sent the email to all three because I wanted to be sure I told all three of them the same thing. Sometimes if I'm talking to three people individually, I don't remember to tell them each all of my points. (is that old age?)

Within 5 minutes of my sending the email, the adviser (who works in Admissions) calls one of my staff members whom he knows pretty well and is angry that I'm accusing him of not doing his job. However, he also tells her that he hasn't time to work with the students and doesn't know if they've dealt with any of the things I've pointed out. (Doesn't it sound like, perhaps, I had some necessity to point out some issues?) He also has a concern that I've said that he will be held personally responsible for whatever happens at the event. She comes to let me know about the conversation, then heads off to her next commitment for the day. A few minutes later, I get an email from him saying that he can't be held responsible for the event and if I'm saying he is, he can't take that kind of responsibility so he's resigning from being the organization's adviser. Oh..and, did I mention that he replied to all so this went to the two students on the email as well? Which...I considered inflammatory. Why would you drag the students into this if you had a beef with how I dealt with something?

About 20 minutes later, I get an email from the student that is president of the organization addressed "To Whom it May Concern." I'm pretty sure I'm the one that's concerned and he knows me...not necessary to begin like that. For the most part he addresses my concerns and shows that they've already taken some actions to deal with the concerns I brought up. But, he goes on a rant about the liability and how that's not his or the adviser's responsibility yada yada yada. And, how if that's the deal, he'll have to follow his adviser's lead and resign from his post with the organization.

I don't have the student's phone number, so I respond to his email by thanking him for responding to my email. I didn't know that they had already addressed some of my concerns, and nobody in my office was aware of whether the concerns had been addressed. That's why I sent the original email (I probably was nicer in my email response than I might be portraying here). Blah blah blah thanks for responding and when an organization doesn't follow college policy and procedures, that's when the leadership of the organization can become personally liable.

Then, I responded to the email from the adviser basically saying the same thing...he'd only be personally responsible if they didn't follow the rules and that was why I emailed him yada yada yada and if he still wants to resign from being the adviser that's his decision. He should let me know if that's still his intention.

This guy is someone that I usually respect, although don't always respect his methods to get things done. He doesn't tend to really give a crap about policies and while I sometimes fall into that category I've had too many years of having to enforce the rules on various college campuses to be able to really just let it go. And, he's pretty well connected on campus, so you don't really want to be on his "list." And, I'm pretty sure I've got to be on it now. He's not really my friend and I don't know that I *really* give a shit, but obviously I must since it's bugging me.

All right, so there's the deal. I think I might feel better now. Thanks for listening. :)