"I'm reading a really good book."

As a linguist whose favorite class was Semantics, I can't help but be intrigued by the language used by blind students. It is surprising to outsiders (myself included) how often Perkins students use phrases like, "I'll see you later," or, "Come here, look at this!" Some of them make a joke of it, like the student who came into my office yesterday, laying on the charm. He said he wanted to travel the world "and, you'll get a kick out of this Bobbie - I want to see everything I can see. Pretty funny coming from a blind guy, huh?" But I think most of them don't even think of it. They're not associating the words they use with their original meaning, but rather with the corresponding actions in a blind world. The best example so far is the student who just came into my office to be rescheduled. I sent him to the library, and asked him to think about what he might like to do for the later period in which he will also have to be rescheduled. He said, "Oh, I don't mind going back to the library. I'm reading a really good book," despite the fact that no actual reading or books will be involved in that scenario - he'll be listening to a recording.

Baptism by fire.

One of the teachers came in this morning and asked me when Diane will be back. Diane is the other Admin Assistant in the secondary program, and she's on vacation for three weeks. I'm doing her job as well as training for mine, and it ain't easy. It requires a much better knowledge of the individual students and staff than I have yet. I told him she was out all week and possibly next week, and he said, "Wow, it's really baptism by fire, isn't it?" I couldn't have put it better myself. And eight teachers (EIGHT!!) are out today, which means for every student they have I have to reschedule them on a case by case basis, period by period, which is part of Diane's job and is going to keep me from getting a lot of my work done today. Of course, my work is building new student files which is less than thrilling, but it's what I am here to do, and I am not doing it.

All whining aside, I had an EXCELLENT weekend! A friend of mine had a small, private wedding and afterwards hosted a dock party on a houseboat to which I was invited. Jimmy and I went and had a grand old time. Saturday morning we watched Always Sunny before getting in the car, picking up Monique and driving to Vermont to hang with the wedding folks and friends for the weekend. We went to Lake Caspian on Saturday evening and lit sparklers and had a fire going and drank beer and were merry. There weren't enough beds, so Jimmy and I slept in a tent, which was quite lovely. Sunday we went back to the lake, swimming and tubing and being tickled by minnows. I did not much enjoy the tubing, as it seemed the whole goal was to knock me off the tube into the water. This goal was met with much success, as well as some bleeding. Jimmy was the champion of the tube by far, staying on until the other Jim and I were almost ready to give up because we were so tired from driving the boat around.

Sunday night we set off some excellent fireworks, although I was beat and went to bed early. Monday we went to the Cabot Creamery, which was awesoooome. Jimmy and I eventually peaced out and came home, exhausted. We watched some Always Sunny and then went to Sweet Chili for Thai food. They had Kikkoman plum wine, which I haven't had in a long time and was super delicious. As was the Pad Thai, which I will continue to consume for at least the next three meals. The apparent endlessness of Pad Thai led Jim and I to speculate that the Feeding of the Multitude might actually be misrepresented, and there was in fact one order of Pad Thai rather than five loaves and two fish. Thai noodles and shrimp... close enough, right?

You know what? I like you.

So I started slacking again. Big surprise. Well, I got my Masters degree in Linguistics from Tulane and moved back to Boston to my parents' house (for the moment). I finally got a job, and it's all I could ever want! At least for now. I am the Administrative Assistant in the Secondary Program at the Perkins School for the Blind. I'd love to blog in detail about it but there's a lot of stuff that's confidential and I'd rather err on the side of caution than betray someone's trust and lose my job.

But there are some things I can say. I love the job, I love my office, I love the kids. Today is my first day alone, meaning that the woman training me is out today, but ALSO the woman in the downstairs office is out for three weeks, so on my first week I am doing the jobs of two different people, neither of which I have fully grasped yet.

The best thing is the kids. They're hilarious, for one thing. They're just always joking around. Yesterday I heard three of them on their way to class just singing, "Bieber, Bieber, Bieber, ooooh, Bieber, Bieber, Bieber..." Today a girl named Hailey came into the office. I had met her once before, but I don't think she remembered. She asked who it was, and I said it was Bobbie and I am replacing Debby. She asked why Debby was leaving, and I told her. And then she said, "You know what? I like you." Every day something like that happens, something to just melt your heart and make you want to do every single thing to make sure that these sweet, beautiful, funny children get to grow up to be whatever they want, despite the crappy hand they've been dealt. I've never met a more positive group of people, or anyone whose personalities shine through the way these kids' do. It's only my 5th day, maybe the way I feel will change, but right now I am so happy to be here. I can't imagine any place I'd rather be.

Hello again

I just got this comment:

"I found this site using [url=http://google.com]google.com[/url] And i want to thank you for your work. You have done really very good site. Great work, great site! Thank you!"

It makes me want to start writing again, perhaps about New Orleans though I don't do anything interesting. I do have a new camera and can start taking photos again. Right now we are all on tropical storm watch for Ida. It's very windy but no rain yet. I am considering going to the Northshore if it looks like it is going to be bad but it doesn't seem like it's getting any worse. Alas, my hopes of classes being cancelled will not be fulfilled.

Other things I could write about would be my awesome Vespa, the amusing things that go on when one works in a restaurant, especially the kitchen, being a grad student in linguistics and becoming disillusioned with it, wanting to quit doing linguistics after this year and be a nurse, looking forward to living alone in my own apartment when my lease is up, planning on adopting special needs cats... so I guess it's worth trying to keep it up. We shall see how it goes.

The Story of the Kitten

Okay, I know I have been bad at blogging lately. I'm just so busy! And after Paris, nothing seems interesting anymore. But here is something to amuse you!

It was a morning just like any other morning, I woke up, showered, had breakfast, walked to campus... When I got to Newcomb Hall and walked in the door, I saw Graham, a guy from my class, sitting on the stairs playing with a kitten. I said, "Aw, who is this?" and he said, "I don't know." Apparently she had been wandering around outside Newcomb and then she wandered inside. Graham picked her up. She had a little flea collar on but no nametag. We went to our first class, Intro to Historical Linguistics, and just walked in with the kitten. Our professor is a crazy linguist, so she didn't mind. Graham usually sits next to me anyway, so we sat down and he was trying to get her to calm down but he couldn't. I picked her up and held her next to my heart, cuddled in my sweatshirt, and she fell right asleep. She slept in my arms for the entire class! I cannot tell you how amused I was to be sitting in class with a kitten.

After class, Graham and I walked down to my Philosophy classroom and asked my (tall, bemohawked, all black wearing Hulk) philosophy instructor if I could miss class to help Graham take the kitten to the vet to check if she had a microchip and just see if she was okay. Of course the minute I walked into class with a kitten I knew I had won the battle. A girl in the class agreed to email me the notes for the day. It was a review day anyway. So Graham and I walked to the Maple Street Small Animal Clinic and brought her in. They said she didn't have a microchip, she was too small. She hadn't had her shots, but she didn't have fleas. She had probably been out for a while and possibly had an upper respiratory infection. So they gave me some kitten food and some advice and I took her home!

Walking home



Since we thought she might be sick, I had to put some food and water and litter in my bathroom and shut her in there so she won't get the other cats sick. Mary came home and played with her, and then I came home and played with her. Graham and I named her Ad Hoc (long story), but Addie for short. She's adorable! I posted an ad on Craigslist saying we found her, but nobody claimed her.





Since we couldn't find her family, I took her back to the vet early the next week. She was still a little sick so they decided not to give her her shots yet. After the vet she was so tired that we came home and took a cuddly nap!



Mary and I decided we couldn't keep her, what with already having two adult cats in the house, so we gave her to Graham. But we have joint custody! I have visitation rights, and I'm also the Vet Mommy so I take her to the vet when she needs to go. And I'm allowed to bring her home for sleepovers sometimes. I go over to Graham's every so often to play with her.



Last time I saw her she was starting to get bigger! No longer poor malnourished kitten. The vet said she wouldn't have survived if we hadn't found her. She's such a sweetheart! She runs around and wreaks havoc at Graham's except when I come over, and then she sits on me and purrs for ages. I adore her!





Helping with my French paper!




I brought her into work

Happy birthday to me!

So Sunday was my birthday. I have class early on Mondays, so I didn’t really want to go out on Sunday night, but what’s the point of going out for your 21st birthday before you actually turn 21? Mary (my roommate) said we should go out Saturday night, and I lamented that then I would not be able to order a drink at dinner. Mary said we could go to a bar at midnight and get a drink then and it would be exciting. I lamented that most bars in New Orleans let you in when you’re eighteen so what would be the point? Mary told me that Pat O’Brien’s, home of the Hurricane cocktail, dueling piano bar, “flaming” fountain, and many many stories from my friends, does not let you in until you are 21. So I agreed that that would be exciting.

My friends Vaune, Johnny and Amanda came to Mary’s and my apartment at 6:30. Mary informed me that it is a New Orleans tradition that, on your birthday, someone pins a dollar to your shirt. Then other people will know it’s your birthday and they are supposed to pin more dollars to your shirt. I thought this was crazy, but a lot of strangers wished me happy birthday while we were out!

So Amanda drove all of us to Port of Call, which is a restaurant on Esplanade, on the edge of the French Quarter. They have the best baked potatoes of all time, and pretty amazing burgers, too. They don’t take reservations and the wait outside is usually about an hour… but it’s worth it. We eventually got inside and all had delicious baked potatoes and burgers.



Dinner folk, minus Johnny (who was taking the picture):
Amanda, Vaune, Mary and me. Note the dollar!


Neither Vaune nor Amanda really wanted to stay out late, so they left after dinner. Johnny and Mary and I meandered over to Bourbon St. We couldn’t actually get in to Pat O’s until midnight, and we hadn’t really planned what to do for that time, so we just walked up and down Bourbon St. for a while. Eventually we stepped in to Hustlet Hollywood, which is a really silly store on Bourbon St. It seems every single time I go to Bourbon St. I stop in there… I can’t help it! It just amuses me so much. Also our legs were pretty tired by that time, and HH has this plush couch shaped like lips and draped with feather boas, so Mary and I sat there and rested our feet for a few minutes while Johnny made a goodnight phone call to his long-distance love.

In Hustler Hollywood: Mary seriously considered buying me this hat if I would agree to wear it any time she asked.


"Death of Bachelorhood" elaborate bachelor party parade on Bourbon


Johnny and I on Bourbon St


At around 11 we went out in search of a daquiri, but by the time we chose one of the many daiquiri spots, I wasn’t feeling too great. While we were standing around outside debating what to do, we ran into Ly, another friend of mine, and so we talked to her for a bit. Then, around 11:30, our friends Culum and Stacey finally made it into the Quarter. We decided that it was near enough to midnight that we could probably convince the bouncers to let me into Pat O’s, so we headed over there. The bouncer looked at my ID, looked at me, looked at my ID, looked at the dollars on my shirt, looked at my ID again, and finally got this huge grin on his face and said, “Happy Birthday!” and let us in. All was well. We went into the outdoor courtyard of Pat O’s, which was full of colored lights and fountains and pretty foliage and well-dressed cocktail waiters, and we all ordered Hurricanes. We sat around and played a silly card game we’d picked up at Hustler Hollywood and had an all-around good time.

My first drink as a 21 year old!


Johnny enjoying his Hurricane


Silliness with cherries


One Hurricane from Pat O’s is a pretty big drink, and I drink slowly, so by the time I’d finished mine it was near one. Stacey and Culum were ready to go, and I made the executive decision to go with them, because I had a lot of homework and didn’t want to be out too late either. While we were walking down Bourbon, I saw a Lucky Dog stand. Since I hadn’t bought a drink with my birthday money (which is what you are supposed to do) I bought a Lucky Dog with it! ¼ of meat, plus chili, pickle relish, onions and mustard. A great way to end the night!



So I went out and had a fun night with friends, did a lot of traditional New Orleanian things, and still was home relatively early (for a 21st birthday) and didn’t have too much to drink… so I will actually remember my 21st birthday! It was really a perfect night.

I did homework most of the day on my actual birthday, but then for dinner my friend Rachel and I went to O'Henry's, a restaurant that serves free steak on your birthday. And it's good steak! So I had a free steak, and then the family at the table next to us heard that it was my 21st birthday, so they insisted on buying my drink (which was a very strange blue concoction), which was really cute. It was parents with children and a grandmother (named Bobbe, short for Roberta!), and the mom was all matter-of-factly explaining the importance of turning 21. The little boy was very intrigued. It was adorable.

Well now that I have shared this story with you I can be off to the rest of my day! Which mostly involves doctor's appointments, pharmacies and grocery shopping.

No me Gustav

So I never wrote about my evacuation, or my classes, but now I want to write about my birthday! So first, quick recap:

Thursday: Decided to evacuate, called home

Friday: Got on a plane at 4:30 PM to Dallas. They told us that all flights in and out of Dallas were being delayed an hour, so our flight was delayed an hour, but all the connecting flights would be delayed, too. So I got to Dallas and, of course, my flight had left an hour ago. I couldn’t get on the last flight to Boston so I spent the night in the airport, after befriending a young Loyola student named Ray. We camped out at Gate A37. I got eaten by fire ants in the night. Ray was spared.

Saturday: Got home around one, did some shopping and some laundry, took a shower, and drove to Connecticut to spend a few days with Jim and all the other UConners. Très relaxing. While I was there I went through the painful process of getting my flight home changed from Wednesday to Sunday… they weren’t even letting people back into the city until Thursday, but of course since my flight was booked by American Airlines but carried by US Airways, nobody could cancel it. Until they could. Funny, that.

Wednesday through Saturday I was in Lexington, bumming around, doing work for the classes I was missing. Sunday I flew back to NOLA, though it took me most of the day, because at one point I gave up my seat for a free travel voucher and then they said they couldn’t get me on the next flight and I would have to wait. But since they gave me a first class ticket when I gave up my seat, when I got on standby for the next flight and all they had open were first class seats, I took preference over the other passengers! So I flew back to NOLA first class. I met up with a friend at the airport, we shared a cab home, went to the grocery store (which was mostly empty) and I made dinner for another friend that evening, to help me relax.

Then I started classes on Monday. My Monday schedule:

9AM: Intro to Historical Linguistics
10 AM: Beginning with Minds
11 AM: Linguistic Field Methods
12 PM: Intermediate Italian

and then my French Senior Seminar (on French national identity) is from 4:30 to 7 PM. Long day. Especially once I started work as the “administrative assistant” of the department of Cell and Molecular Biology (they were hiring!) and I work from 1:30-4 on Mondays.

Tuesday I have an 8 AM Italian class and then a 5:30 PM Astronomy class followed by observation, and on Thursday I have just Astronomy. I’m also writing an Honors thesis. This adds up to 22 credit hours. To the intense relief of all of my advisers and loved ones, I dropped Italian yesterday. It’s the only one I don’t need to graduate. The Linguistic Field Methods class is the one I am taking for my Masters. Exciting!

I’ve been meeting with all sorts of advisers trying to figure this year out. It’s going to be complicated. But I’m done talking about all that now! I want to talk about my birthday!