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Graduation pictures are up too :)

| Posted by: Kimberly | Link to this post |

Just as I pulled up to the house today, I noticed the odometer had just hit 19,999. It seems like I just picked Pepe up a couple of months ago, not a couple of years ago. I’ve been thinking all night about how much my life has changed in the last 745 days:

1. I saved the world from the horror known as ‘Creed’.

2. I turned 30 years old.

3. My baby got accepted to Grad School.

4. We moved to Colorado.

5. I was hired and subsequently laid off by a local property management company, which led me to find a GREAT job.

6 There is no 6.

7. My honeysweetiepielovemuffin turned 30.

8. I forgot what 8 was for.

9. I got married to a woman I both love and adore. And taunt. Next to the birth of my future children, and when I finally get the animatronic-coin-operated-Kimberly-poking-you-in-the-eye complete, this will be the happiest day of my life.

10. We added a fourth cat to the mix. I don’t know what it is about her, but Chloe just wrecks me, she is so cute.

11. I celebrated my one year wedding anniversary.

12. I watched my wife present her Master’s Project.

13. I watched as my lovely wife graduated from Grad School. And cried.

14. I drove my baby to the airport so that she could visit Paris and Switzerland with hermoM. (It’s where the history comes from!)

What an interesting 2 years. I love my life. I love my wife. I love LIFE.

| Posted by: Jim T. | Link to this post |

Yep. It’s over. Graduation was about as can be expected one hour and fifty eight minutes of boring and 2 minutes of exciting. It was so nice to have my family there–the best part of everything was seeing the people I love so happy for me and so proud.

The gallery show was amazing. We had well over a hundred people there. I arrived a little bit late because I had to eat something before going and when I got there it was packed. There was barely room to walk. I’m so glad we did the show because it really was the closure we needed in a way that the actual graduation ceremony (where our names are read and we’re rushed off the stage so it’s over in literally about 30 seconds) can’t be. Our friends, our family, and the community came out to support us and celebrate what we have done. It made me feel like I actually did something and had something to show for all my work and the sweat and the tears.

The fact that I have a freaking Masters degree still hasn’t sunk in. I had a desktop countdown timer set for the day and time of graduation and when I loaded up my computer to show my project and it said 0 days 0 hours 0 minutes all I could do was stare. Things are still a bit surreal for me–especially since I fly out to D.C. on Monday and then Paris on Wednesday. I don’t even know what to do with that information at the moment.

I guess tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life.

Holy shit!!

| Posted by: Kimberly | Link to this post |

My presentation went really, really well. I knocked it out of the park. My advisor turned to me after the presentation and said, “You ready to teach a class?” There was mention of helping them figure out a way to incorporate wikis into the program and teaching a class on using wikis for research and community development (which is what my project was about) if they could find the budget. My response was, “My consulting fee is … ” :)

I am utterly exhausted and really happy. I just have to finish up my project for my other class and I AM DONE!!!

| Posted by: Kimberly | Link to this post |

I’m just finishing my degree and getting ready to get on with my life.

I have a paper due May 17th
Need to overhaul the house and clean May 20-21
I present my Masters project on May 26th (and need to turn 15 page paper accompanying project)
My Gender and Globalization Mass Comm project & paper is due May 31 (which I have a plan for, but haven’t actually started)
Take home essay for above class due June 4
Family starts coming into town June 5 (theoretically)
Set up gallery show on June 8
Graduation on June 9
Gallery show on June 9 after graduation
Tear down gallery show on June 10
Leave for D.C. on June 12
Leave for Paris on June 14th

So yeah. I’m booked pretty much through.

| Posted by: Kimberly | Link to this post |

…probably not because it’s been over two weeks since I last posted. Where does the time go?

Winter quarter has come to an end, and it ended with a bang. That bang was me and most of my fellow graduate cohorts hitting a wall. The quarter was crazy and full of work, but we also have senioritis really bad. We’re drained, we’re running out of steam, we want it to just be over. The last week of the quarter was hell for me. I had a hard time getting any reasonable perspective about my life and school and what I could and could not deal with.

It’s over though. Well, except I really, really need to get my project proposal done and it’s hard for me to work up the energy to do it. I know what I’m going to do, and I know once I sit down I will just pound it out. But here I am, at the computer, blogging instead. I’ve also been looking at maps of Paris and having French CDs and good walking shoes and noise-cancelling earbuds and Paris guidebooks delivered. Well actually, none of that stuff has been delivered, but any day now! (Thanks Mom!!)

Next quarter I’m taking one class (Intellectual Property Technology and Piracy) and three MA project credits. And then I’m done (!!!!) . I don’t even know what to say about that. I can’t believe it’s been just over a year and a half since The Man and I left LA and moved here to face a life of being broke and stressed out and also one of new opportunities and snow and some honestly good times. I’ve gotten married, turned thirty, and in less than three months I will have a Masters degree and be off to Paris and Zurich. A.Ma.Zing.

See? This is why I don’t post more. It’s all blather, all the time.

| Posted by: Kimberly | Link to this post |

Marquette University Student Suspended for Blogging

A dental student at Marquette University has been suspended for the rest of the academic year and ordered to repeat a semester after a committee of professors, administrators and students determined that he violated professional conduct codes when he posted negative comments about unnamed students and professors on a blog.

Scott Taylor, the student’s attorney, said his client, a 22-year-old in Marquette’s School of Dentistry, was brought before the committee for a conduct hearing last week after a classmate complained about his blog, a Web site that contained musings about topics ranging from his education to videogames and drinking.

The focus of the hearing, Taylor said, were half a dozen postings including one describing a professor as “a (expletive) of a teacher” and another that described 20 classmates as having the “intellectual/maturity of a 3-year-old.”

What the hell? This guy was obviously stupid for not doing more to disguise who he was, however, he didn’t name anyone, he’s paying THEM to be there, and it totally sounds like someone had an agenda for pursuing this.

Bleh.

| Posted by: Kimberly | Link to this post |

wikimatrix

| Posted by: Kimberly | Link to this post |

Well, grades are in and I managed to maintain my gpa. I was actually surprised this quarter because my audio class was a struggle for me. For those of you who are registered for the forum, I posted my audio project in a new discussion (also, there have been some open topics eagerly awaiting responses for some time :D).

| Posted by: Kimberly | Link to this post |

Last project emailed. Six weeks off (only not, I have to start my master’s project)!! aaahhhhh!!!!

*runs around like a maniac*

*collapses in a heap*

*drools vacantly*

| Posted by: Kimberly | Link to this post |

I just got back from my last class of the quarter (the freak snowstorm today made getting around fun). We’ve had presentations of our final projects the past two days. The class is a Research Methods class which is supposed to be a trial run for our bigger requirement to graduate Masters project due at the end of the year. My classmates are really amazing. I am completely blown away by their projects. I really feel honored to be a part of the group. Our professor said that a lot of the work we did was on par with what they expect for the final MA project. That kind of blew me away. It makes the final project seem less like a massive hurdle. One of my classmates, T. said, “So.. if we don’t really do any more work for the rest of the year that would be ok?” and the prof said, “No. You guys have just set the bar really high for yourselves.”

D’oh!!

My project is a collaborative research wiki. For this class, I wasn’t really focusing on the collaborative part for obvious reasons, but more about how to conceptually place the use of the wiki and how it can be used to develop project ideas through hypertext and non-linear writing. My professor is super excited about it and is encouraging me to get my fellow students on the wiki. He said, “I can’t really require you guys to use the wiki. But I do strongly encourage it.” So I will be re-creating the wiki on school servers (right now it’s on my consulting biz site) and training people how to use it. My Prof has also said he wants me to come talk to the 1st year grad students next quarter and train them on how to use it so he can incorporate it into his critical approaches to digital media class. I’ve also talked to an undergrad student who helps run the underground paper and he really wants to develop a digital forum for students and has been frustrated by the lack of one in the past. So. BIG THINGS! I’ll have lots of data to use for my final project if even one of these plans gets off the ground. I’m so excited.

Now I just have to finish up my final projects for both of my classes. They’re due Tuesday of next week. Wednesday my dad and his wife are coming and Thursday is Thanksgiving with them and my brother and his family. I’m going to have to fit cleaning in there somewhere because the house is kind of a pit right now.

There’s probably something else, but dinner’s ready so I’m off. More later.

| Posted by: Kimberly | Link to this post |

This just arrived in my school email inbox, and really my only reaction is WTF?! (one of the funniest parts was that at the top of the email in bold, reads *PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS EMAIL*):

Dear Kimberly :

The University of Denver, Office of Financial Aid is mandated to provide educational information about the U.S. Constitution each September 17th.

| Posted by: Kimberly | Link to this post |

Rumors of my return are in fact true.

Today is my one year anniversary of starting graduate school. Coincidentally, it is also my first day of classes for year deux. This quarter it’s Digital Audio Production (bahahahahahaha!) and Research Methods. DAP will learn me how to make Freak Ass music (theoretically) and Research Methods will learn me how to uhm, do research (also a theoretical endeavor). Unlike any other quarter or semester in the history of Me, I do not have any of my books yet. I heard a rumor that the professor (same one for both classes) still wasn’t sure about them and I didn’t want to make two trips to the bookstore. I feel a little freaky about not being ready, but also a little freaky about it if you know what I mean.**

Anyhoo, the trip to MD was fun. I’ll tell you in advance there is no way I’ll be able to capture the complete and utter cuteness that was Lily the Super Puppy, but I’ll try. First, a picture:

It’s kind of a crappy picture because we of course, forgot to bring the digital camera and that’s a camera phone picture my mother emailed to me. Nevertheless, the cuteness of the puppies comes through. There are very few things on this planet that will make a very committed non-morning person happy at 7 a.m. (5 a.m. her time), but I’m here to tell you that a fluffy puppy so happy to see you that she almost falls down wagging her entire body is one of them. Lily radiates happiness from every furry pore on her body. She terrorizes Jake by chomping on him continuously, but he doesn’t seem to mind because he asks for more. He will roll over on his back so Lily–who is easily one fourth his size–can chew on his throat and growl menacingly. When they play tug of war with one of their many (many, many, many) toys, he pulls just hard enough that she has a fighting chance.

After Lily gets a bath, which is nearly every day after she goes to doggy daycare, she runs around the house jumping like a bunny until she leaps for the dog bed, flops on her back with four feet flying in the air, and rolls and rubs and snorts happily for a good fifteen minutes. She knows how to undo the velcro on your shoes. She will run to you, tail wagging when you say, “Lily! Come!” She will chase after Jake when he is fetching a ball until she’s too tired about half way and attack him on the way back. And I can’t stress this enough, when she sees you after you’ve been away for a little while, she will act as if you’re the best thing that has ever happened to her. OH the cuteness. Of course, she’s also either in high gear or asleep. She needs to be watched pretty much all the time when she’s awake. I would have to take leave from my job if I had a puppy like Lily because she seriously is a full time job. The breeder said that Golden Retriever puppies are that cute so you won’t kill them, and damned if it isn’t true.

Anyway, the man and I had an interesting experience when we were taxiing out for take off from St. Louis on our way to MD:

The scene: Jim T and Kimberly are sitting in their airplane seats, pushing back from the gate at the St. Louis airport. Kimberly looks out the window.

Kimberly: Kenny Rogers!!
Jim T: Kenny Rogers??
Kimberly: Kenny Rogers is out there directing the plane.
Jim T (looking): Holy crap! That does look like Kenny Rogers. Maybe it’s his younger brother Skippy.
Kimberly: Hee! Poor Skippy! Did your brother stiff you so bad you’re stuck in St. Louis working at the airport?
Jim T: Kenny wouldn’t do that. I think he’s traveling around taking different jobs, experiencing life.
Kimberly: I think Skippy got stiffed. Damn your cheap ass Kenny Rogers! *shakes fist*

In other news:
WE GOT PIT TICKETS TO GO SEE THE FOO FIGHTERS!!!!!!!! I still have the ticket mojo. And also, I had a dream about Dave Grohl. I was sitting on a bed talking to him about how cool the last concert we went to was, and how it was really special for Jim T and I how it was really cool that after he dived into the crowd I got to help him back on stage and then at the Denver concert he dedicated a song to Jim and me. I’m taking it as a good omen.

* That was for you Super Chocolate Bear.

** Actually, it would be kind of amazing if you knew what I mean, because I sure don’t.

| Posted by: Kimberly | Link to this post |

My ColdFusion project is finished and submitted for evaluation!! That means it’s officially summer! YAY!

If you want to see it, let me know and I’ll send you the link and a guest login. It’s a simple research sharing application for my dept. at school. I’m planning on expanding it and hopefully turning it into my masters project. (And maybe rewrite it in PHP)

| Posted by: Kimberly | Link to this post |

For me

| Posted by: Kimberly | Link to this post |