Novel news

As is often the case, in the wee hours of the night I found myself blindsided by an explosion of creativity. However, it wasn't my normal "a-ha" inspired moment. Instead, it was a rare moment of what could be creative genius. This possibly perfect creative moment dealt with an idea for that "novel I want to write someday." You know, the novel I haven't thought about for at least 6 months now...

Even so, last night's creative storm thrust me squarely into the chief designer position of an entirely new imaginary world. A world expansive and complicated enough that in four hours it spawned storylines for two novels and one short story. CRAZY, I know. I have no idea how it happened. One moment I was trying to sleep and the next moment an amazing idea flew through my brain. It must have come straight from the gods. Actually, that's more than likely because the idea happens to spotlight them, and we all know how self-centered gods can be.

Unfortunately, my plate is currently heaped with vital projects, so this exciting addition needs to be left to simmer. Regardless, solidifying my ideas for "the novel" makes me very happy. Depending on the status of my DPhil work at the end of term, I may try to draft the short story for submission to Yog's Notebook (the new quarterly sf/fantasy/horror 'zine my friends Audrey and Lucas just started). However, that idea could prove to be overly-ambitious. Still, I look forward to the time when I can focus more on creative fun - whenever that may be.

Future UKcidergirl possibilities

I should be researching right now. However, we'll leave the discussion of my ongoing battle with procrastination for another day. Instead, it's time to start talking about the various paths that I see myself approaching in the future and why I may or may not go down certain ones.

First, I love researching and writing on history. Getting my doctorate is something that I am absolutely sure is the right thing for me to do. Also, I am sure I would be very happy continuing on in academia as a professor after I graduate. As it stands, I am not sure if this path will have me teaching in the UK or the US - it is all dependant on where positions are available the year I graduate.

If I am not offered a position directly after graduation, I'm faced with many options of varying appeal.

Holding the most appeal is an Oxford post-doc fellowship. The post-doc would pay me to spend a year turning my doctoral thesis into a book ready for publication. This is tempting, as my current job is not scheduled to end until a year after my expected graduation date. Still, post-docs are extremely competitive so the odds are very small that I will receive one.

Moving away from History (since the above two are really the only options available for that subject), the main option I am currently considering could spark some controversy. But I am nothing if not honest, so here we go...

I am considering applying to the Oxford International Development Department's taught Master's program in International Diplomacy. It is a one year program that would give me an excellent basis in international relations and diplomacy. I realise that some may think this idea is a knee-jerk reaction/influence based on my new job. The reality is that my new job is a reflection of this interest that I've had growing inside me for over a year now.
When it first struck me last February or thereabouts, I was considering going into the Peace Corps for two years after I graduate. Now I realise I want to do something more focussed than that. With a master's in diplomacy, and/or possibly a short internship with the UN or UNICEF, I feel like I would be completely educated and qualified to do the two things I really want to do with my life: 1)Teach people a more wholistic understanding of history; 2)work to bridge social, cultural, and economic gaps in order to improve and enhance people's lives - to be clear, I'm not just talking about the developing nations; I am convinced the people of "developed" nations would lead vasting enhanced lives if they better understood their "developing" counterparts.
One of the best ways for me to realise these two goals would be to have the experience necessary to teach in History, Women's Studies, and International Development/Studies at the University level. With my History DPhil I should be able to do the first two, but I feel like I need more qualification to adequately cover the last. This brings me back to why a Masters in International Development would be so beneficial. It's still early days though, so no definite decision one way or the other has been made.

Having said all of that, I'd love to hear your thoughts...

Why technology frustrates me, and other rants

After inadvertently becoming sucked into hours of "routine computer maintenance" this evening, I have solidified my love/hate relationship with technology. Tonight's excruciatingly involved process (I won't bore you with the details) highlighted how naive I was to believe that Adaware, quarterly defragmentation, and scanning my hardrive kept everything maintained and safe. I probably should have taken a clue when I saw the "Geek Squad" at Best Buy were charging hundreds of $$ to dejunk and secure a PC. I'm sure my current maintenance/security woes are all my fault - damn you P2P platforms...sigh, but in all honesty, what would I do without my ESPN All Asia??!! Crapitty-crap-crap; no solution. Sigh.

I still really like my job, so that is a bit less ranty. However, the happy "new job" haze has cleared and I'm beginning to see some things that really need to be improved. That's a good thing because it means I can bring alot to the project, but it also means the job isn't necessarily "prescribed." I'm the first fully-dedicated Finance person the project has hired, therefore much of my job is trying to centralise and standardise information and procedures. This effort can be rather frustrating since when I leave work, my Peruvian counterpart is just arriving at his office, and my Vietnamese colleague is sound asleep. Now, in this situation let's say your project's funder sends an urgent last-minute request for financial figures just as you are ready to leave... As you can see, the financial information needs to be accessed more easily to allay everyone's frustration. Not a simple task though. As I said to a coworker today - "baby steps, baby steps."

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...

It's not often that a television show makes me pause in consideration. Having a children's cartoon prompt deep introspection is even more rare. Still, despite all odds, my inner "hmmm" was engaged during a recent episode of Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer. For those who are unfamiliar, Dora is a cute little girl who goes on adventures with her friends Backpack (a backpack), Map (a map), and Boots (nope, not a cat, a monkey!). Usually, Dora has to take something somewhere for some reason. For example, Dora may have to take a magic flute across the river, over the moutain, and to the little boy who needs to play it so his crops will grow. Anyway, you get the picture and how normally it doesn't require too much analysis.

However, this "deep" episode dealt with happiness and, specifically, things that make someone happy. So, after Dora explained that her flute and playing it made her happy (not the magic one, that was another episode), and asked me (well, she was looking at me) what made me happy, a new character "Grumpy Troll" came up to her and adamantly said there was nothing that made him happy. When Dora pressed him further ("Are you SURE Grumpy Troll, nothing makes you happy?") he finally said that there were in fact 3 things that made him happy. The next thing you know sweet little Dora and her entourage are off on their adventure to find Grumpy Troll's happy things (for surely, a troll should not be grumpy...) and I was left still trying to answer Dora's question.

Sitting there unable to come up with a specific thing that made me happy (emphasis on "thing" there...this is not a depressing post, it's easy to come up with people/places/ideas that make me happy) was surprising. I mean, most of us have "things" that bring us joy, right? After more than a few more frustrating minutes of mentally scanning lists of possibly joyful "stuff" I finally came up with my happy list. Still, I'm thinking my initial inability to think of anything places me firmly in the "Grumpy" category. And on that note, let me present Grumpy Tiff's 10 Things that Make Her Happy:

1)Warm liquids (tea, lattes, cocoa, chai, hot tang, hot toddy)
2)Accents
3)Down-filled comforters
4)Gigantic flying swings (the death-defying ones at fairs)
5)Authentic Maryland Blue Crabcakes
6)Kittens and Border Collies at any age
8)The ocean (is that a place or a thing?...if it's a place, it can't count...)
9)Roller-skating (again, I'm not sure if this counts as a thing...but it's not a person or a place...so it must be?)
10)Spongebob Squarepants' song "The Best Day Ever"

So, my ostensibly less grumpy friends and family, what 10 "things" make you happy?

An apology to Santa and my New Year's resolution

Right, so two posts in one day, this could be a record! I had plans to post a cute letter to Santa wishing him a nice post-Christmas vacation, thanking him for my Christmas gifts (thank you Santa!), and explaining the reasons I was going to be a "good girl" in the coming year. As you can see, that idea has been abandoned - for no particular reason except due to my current circumstances my creative juices are running low. Sorry Santa.

Regardless, I have come up with my 2007 New Year's resolution. Last year, I decided to become more realistic/understanding when choosing the foods I consume, something I am happy to report was a complete sucess. This year, I've decided to "think globally and act locally". Therefore, I will concientiously buy a Big Issue from my local vendor every week...no excuses.

UKcg's list of quotable quotes you didn't know you wish you knew

Lately, I've found myself stumbling across exceptional reading material overflowing with quotable insights, quips, and witticisms. They've become so apparant that it seems a crime not to share them with others. Therefore, in no particular order:

1) "Geography has fallen on hard times...[it] emits a sulfurous odor of heresy...it tells an unpleasant truth, namely, that nature like life is unfair...Geography, in short, brings bad tidings, and everyone knows what you do to that kind of messenger." - David Landes in The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, p. 3-5.

2) "Dead people do not count as ill..." - David Landes in The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, p. 11.

3) "But I figure I won the cosmic lottery just by being born in America, a country where I can not only work on a college degree at age 48, but also find scholarships and education grants to help me pay for it. I have a roof over my head, food every day, family and friends, and occasionally even a $10 student ticket to the Seattle Symphony. Some days I feel like the luckiest person in the world." - Donna Freedman in "Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year"

4) "...research indicates that assets of just $2,200 per adult place a household in the top half of the world's wealthiest...Sure, you can now be proud that you're rich. But take a moment to think about it...if it takes just a couple of thousand dollars to qualify as rich in this world, imagine what it means to be poor." - Marketwatch in "Got $2,200? In this world you're rich"

5) "...we live on islands of fortune within an ocean of poverty..." Omer Belsky in a review on Amazon of David Landes book cited above.

6) "Do you see the love?" - Lauren in a beautiful picture she made for me, please see below.



And yes, my bit o' cookie, I do see the love. *smooches*

Toto, you can have my ruby slippers...

'cause the Wizard doesn't need tax returns from employed Oz-fordians. Hand to god. If the Kansa-mericans need to take a moment, I understand. It was hard for me to believe too.

Of course UK inhabitants are still taxed. And drawbacks to the no-tax-filing system definitely exist (mainly that everyone is assessed a flat-rate tax based on the levels of your income, and there seem to be no general tax breaks based on circumstantial factors - i.e. the Education credits American students can get for tuition costs or student loan interest). Even so, the UK equivalent of an American's "personal exemption" is much higher here than there, so I imagine the tax payment difference for someone in my situation will be minimal. Plus, did I mention I don't have to stress over filing taxes by April 15th?? That in itself makes up for any nominal overage. And you'll never believe what other events have happened in History on America's annual tax deadline...that day simply reeks of bad mojo.

However, to catch you up and relay some good mojo news, I flew back to England last weekend and started my new job today! I am still getting my bearings and meeting people, but it seems like a very dynamic and fun place to work. Also, it looks like I will have a great deal of autonomy and agency in this new position, which is exciting. Additionally, the office is located next to one of the best pubs in town...post-work happy hour, here I come. ;-)

Welcome to touchdown city..err, household

Alright. Seriously. I don't care how many universities I attend, when it comes to American football I will forever be a Mountaineer. As today's Gator Bowl extravaganza proved, something happened to me in my teens and early 20s that cannot be changed. I live and breath WVU Mountaineer football. I scream. I cheer. I expell gutteral profanities. That won't change. Thank god my parents are Amerifooty fans as well, so they understand and don't judge me as I indoctrinate my baby sister into the wonderful world of College football. Lauren and I screamed, cheered, drank (beer for me, milk for her ;) ) and proudly displayed our gamefaces throughout the nailbiting experience of today's bowl game. We laughed when Mozes fell on his face in a determined comittment to the "sleeper play"and tandemly fell in love with Schmitt for his steadfast rushing. Brilliant game today. Mountaineers today, tomorrow and forever!!