Crunchy Frog!

Hi Folks,

Once I find a way to post more regularly via something like Seesmic, I'll do so. For now, I thought I should drop by and wake my blog up from its peaceful slumber.

I found this! Exploding Chocolate Frogs from Fortnum and Mason.

It reminds me of this!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy6uLfermPU

Suffice it to say, I was quite pleased. ;-)

I'll ramble on some more later. For now, bon appetito.

I went away for a while, but now I'm back. ;-)

If I have been missing in action for the last several months, never fear! I wasn't too far away at least.
 I'll get to the point and instead of a rambling essay, I'll just make a bullet list of this summer's events, because I'm in business-mode right now and my creativity is basically taking a nap. :-P I'll include pictures as well. So here goes:

• I spent most of the summer prepping for my teaching position at the Abbey. Thankfully, all the work paid off and I'm settling in to my role just fine. In the meantime, I'm also still tutoring English and History and just recently took on another project at BAC which shall remain a surprise until later in the year. ;-)

•  In June, Dave and I had the privilege of meeting Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna when he came to Belmont Abbey to celebrate Mass and receive an honorary degree. I must say, it was the highlight of the summer and an experience I won't soon forget. Receiving a blessing from His Eminence was very special, even for a Baptist girl like me. ;-)

• The Abbey also hosted its first Literary Conference (I spend a lot of time there, don't I? haha) in June. I didn't present a paper myself, since I was busy spending most of the earlier part of the spring and summer getting my Grad work done, but I thoroughly enjoyed being in the audience for a change! The theme was Transformation in Literature, which included everything from Shakespeare to James Joyce. Stanely Fish, a well-known figure in the realm of English Comp and Lit, gave the keynote address. I'm hoping we can continue the tradition every year! Who knows, maybe Harold Bloom will show up next...

• Also in June, our good friends Heather Byrd and Andrew Achter were married! It was a beautiful ceremony (how could it have not been?), with the right touch of Hacther wit (yes, that's their new celebrity name, apparently! :-) ).

• Then there was the family reunion in upstate New York with Dave! What a relaxing few days it was: there was coffee, tea, family, children, cookies, a $1 book sale at the local library, some nice dinners out and marvelous weather! It was a nice respite from all the prepping I was doing on the computer and in my own head. :-P

Niece Jade

In-Laws :)

Cousin Shot



Coco the Cat!



So there, I'm caught up for the entire summer. 8) Here's to the fall semester; I'll spend the first week of September hiding from the DNC, but that's ok!

Cheers,

Em

http://ping.fm/VpsRb

It's "Sir Kenneth Branagh" to you now, punks! :-P Best news of the day

My new favorite singer: let's get rid of the uselessness of Lady Gaga and have more throwback music like this! http://ping.fm/AqKhY

I ESCAPED or I GRADUATED!

Well folks, pardon my two month absence as I was putting the proverbial finishing touches on my M.A. degree, but I wanted to finally announce that I AM DONE!

 Now begins an unusually busy summer of settling in to our new place across town, attending two conferences, some work-related meetings, traveling to NY in July, reading and preparing for my new occupation: along with tutoring, teaching will be my new dig. ;-) I'm looking forward to it and like anyone else would be, I'm naturally a bit daunted, but I'm quickly shedding that feeling as time goes on.

Updates will continue as the summer progresses! I've been delighted by the Diamond Juiblee coverage this weekend and I still have lots of fun things along with the worky-stuff planned for the warm months of this year. Dave and I took a one-day frolic to Biltmore Estate in Asheville earlier in the week and pretended we were in an alternate Downton Abbey Universe. Then, we spent the weekend playing happy hosts to our old friend Cory! Whoohoo! It's always a blast having friends in town...especially when they live in a galaxy far, far away (that is, Ohio). :-P

My time spent at UNCC was, spoken plainly: stressful, fun, exciting, boring, pleasureful, infuriating and depressing betimes...but I made new friends, so who can beat that?

Until next time! :-)

I made it. YAY. 8)

http://ping.fm/ZrCRF
A Napoleonic educational theme park! With battle re-enactments and the whole sha-bang. My kind of entertainment! Only question is, will there be these at the concession stand? > http://ping.fm/e8cLr

Can't wait to boycott Pepsi...

http://www.lifesitenews.com/blog/confused-about-the-pepsi-fetal-cell-issue-here-are-the-facts

Read on and read carefully...

My Kitty - Cola! :-)

Here's an artsy picture of one of our cats. Enjoy!

http://ping.fm/Blk8x

You'd better read it...

I'm still here, folks

Currently finishing up the last semester of Grad school, with a literature course entirely devoted to Dickens and a class on writing User Documents.

"Waahh??" you may ask. Yes, it counts towards "Rhetoric" in some fashion or other. Go figure. I'm at least re-honing my skills in case my career in Tech writing ever rears its head once again.

Not surprisingly, I'm thoroughly enjoying the Dickens course! ;-) I only have two courses, so I have an extra free day a week in order to live like a normal human. That helps. A lot.

I'll continue to post my rants, raves, reviews and other oddities in the coming months!