I just found the coolest thing ever! Blogger now has the capability to add photos, which I just think is fabulous!! You have to download something from Hello.com, but it's way worth it. The program from Hello allows you to upload pictures to the internet using their webspace, and then (because of a collaboration between Blogger and Hello) you can add those pictures to your blog. Pretty cool. That means I'm going to have to share a lot more of my pictures now -- and you just can't wait, can you? :)

Katrina at a recent college baseball game

This was a good day in a lot of ways. I got a bonus from work (apparently very rare at my workplace), and I got to watch grapes combust in the microwave. (For details on the latter, see the following webpage: http://www.pmichaud.com/grape/).

However, I also had a big moment of stupidity. Well, OK, not that big, but it was annoying nonetheless. See there's this guy at work that I kind of like, but today I didn't really get to see him. He only works mornings in our department, and from 8:00 to noon today, he was working in another room on a team project. The rest of the afternoon was quite productive, but I was a little annoyed that I didn't get to talk to him much. But then, a little after 5:00, he came back in to check his email before he left for the day. So I talked to him a little then, but it was very dry and rather formal -- he was telling about the teaching methods he's using in the classroom -- and I still was dissatisfied with it all when he left a few minutes later. About 3 minutes after his departure, I started to log off of my computer before I left for the day. And it occurred to me how easily I could have said, "Are you going home? Do you want to wait just a minute and we can go out together?" It would have been so simple and natural, but of course I couldn't think of it before he had gone. Oh no. This is the problem with my lack of flirtation -- I'm fine for a long time, but the minute I'm interested and want to flirt, I don't remember how to anymore. *sigh!*

I've been getting really excited about my Master's program at the U of Lancaster. This past weekend I got information from the department, recognizing my acceptance of their offer and including more detailed information about the program and courses offered. Each course listing included a recommended reading list, and so on Saturday I checked out about 10 books on stylistics from the library. I have only read very little of them so far, but they are getting me very excited to go out there. Many of the books were written by professors at Lancaster, and I've enjoyed getting to know their work. In particular, I've been impressed with Mick Short. His work is very much the kind of thing that I want to do, and that's been relieving. I'll be excited to meet him, although he doesn't seem to be scheduled to teach any courses that I plan to take.

I've also been getting more and more convinced to go to UNT (University of North Texas) for a PhD in Poetics. It looks very inviting. The more I get to know about the program, and the more I think about my future options and career plans, the more I think I'd like to go out there. I just can't get used to the idea of living in Texas, though. Of all places! Oh well, I guess sometimes you just have to do what you have to do, huh?

It's been a long time, huh? Well, I'm back. I now finally have my own computer at home, and it's connected to the Internet, so I can blog from home now.

I got in to 4 of the 6 grad schools I applied to: BYU, UVa, Lancaster, and Leeds. I didn't get in to Cambridge or Purdue, but that was OK, since I really wanted to go to Lancaster anyway. (Sometime, you should ask me about the "real story" about Cambridge, if you're interested.) I've accepted at Lancaster and am now getting ready to go out there for the coming school year. And, now I'm starting to look at PhD schools, which is a really strange feeling. My roommate Margo and I are looking into going to the same school. I've been considering University of North Texas, Northern Illinois University, and Purdue. We'll see what happens, I guess. Right now, UNT is looking pretty good. But then, maybe that's just because that's the only school I've contacted so far.

I've added a new obsession in life: tall ships. It all started with the movie Master and Commander, which I happen to love, despite all my old roommates and my sister, who hate it. And that's what got me into it. They're pretty fascinating things, and I've added the HMS Victory (Admiral Nelson's flagship) to the list of things to do while in England.

I've also fallen in love with the movie The Man from Snowy River. I'd seen it before, but it had never really captured my fancy. But I watched it this weekend again, and I loved it! For one thing, it's such a classic hero tale -- man comes out of nowhere, does great, heroic things, falls in love with beautiful girl, and then rides into the sunset. He moves from a combustible, orange state to a content and controlled blue state. It's the story of life in a nutshell. And besides, the hero happens to be pretty dang cute! The sequel didn't really do anything for me, though. It felt like they were just trying too hard. Although I did enjoy the fact that he got to ride the stallion.

I guess that's the main update on my life. Nothing else very interesting right now.