Descending...into hell...

Yeah, it's been a very long time since I last posted anything, partly because I completely forgot I had this blog and partly because I have been so busy. I am officially entering what I call my personal hell week. On WEdnesday and thursday, I will be taking my qualifying exam for my doctorate. For those who are not familiar with this bizarre initiation ritual/arcane form of torture, it is akin to a professional licensing exam, except that I will be tested on my knowledge of French literature and 19th century French history. I've been preparing for it fairly well, but, as with all things, I am worried about leaving something out or geting something completely wrong.

So back to the ritual. After 2 days of written exams, you wait a week then you are given an oral exam, which is basically a defense of your dissertation prospectus. (If anyone has ever done a 'pitch' for a screenplay or a book proposal, then you know what this entails.) The oral exam comes a week after the last part of the written, so basically, I get to "agonize" for a week, wondering if what I wrote was sufficient. But I digress.

I also have my Winter Choral concert that weekend, on Saturday and Sunday. I am grateful for the opportunity to let off some steam, but am concerned because I will have missed coth the tech rehearsal and the dress rehearsal to study for my exams. I am also excited about this concert, because I will be showing my photography at the reception. Since the theme of the concert is "Images of the Season," I was commissioned to take photographs of various winter holiday themed items. The photographs will be on display at the reception. Here is a sample of a few of them.

More can be seen at my DeviantArt account, located at http://mlledinkley.deviantart.com. I also have them available for purchase from my personal site at http://cmiskow.homestead.com/photomain.html

Looking for Classmates...from Junior High!?

Middle School is either the worst time in your life, the best time of your life or a litle bit of both. It's a time when you are still a child, but not yet a teenager (a "tween" in today's parlance). It is an awkward age filled with weeklong "best friendships" for girls and the seemingly maniacal swing from "girls are icky" to "girls are hot" for boys. So why would anyone want to revisit this time in their lives?

For some strange reason, I have decided that I want to try to track down my old classmates from Notre Dame Elementary School in Belmont, California, those who attended in the 1980's and graduated 8th grade in 1989. Why would I want to do such a thing? Well, first of all, out of curiosity. Although I have mixed feelings about that time in my life (there were only 29 of us in the class and I was ridiculed, no, ostracized, for my outspoken adherance to the adage "Be Yourself, don't be a phony" my commitment to academics and basically for being a nerd) I am curious about what became of my classmates, and if they changed as much as I have (or have not, in a way). Yes, I am still a nerd, I still wear glasses (though I now wear my contacts most of the time) and I am still very into my French studies, but instead of dressing "like I got my clothes at a garage sale," I shop regularly in Paris and keep up on the latest fashion trends fom France. (See, i pays to be a French instructor!)

So, I am launching a website to try to track down my old classmates. I hope that I might gather enough people together to have an eventual reunion, or if not a reunion, at least get together for cocktails and catch up on 20 years of our lives. More information, photos and the URL to follow.

And if anyone reading this blog by any chance attended Notre Dame Elementary School in Belmont and graduated 8th grade in 1989, please let me know.

Update: I started a "MySpace" page for the renion http://www.myspace.com/nde1989
I wll also be using Classmates.com to locate people who might be interested.

First Post

This post marks my formal entry into the world of blogging. Oh sure, I have had online journals on other sites, particularly on my DeviantArt site, or on my website, but never on a formal "blogs only" site. I needed a place to store my random thoughts that wre not particuarly related to anything on either of those two sites. That said. . .

I was over ambitious the other day in overhauling my website and I accidentally deleted it from the server. I just spent all day trying to reinstate it. I suppose it was a blessing in disguise, because that site was old and there was so much information on the pages that it was difficult to edit. It was a fan site anyway, and I am not really into the Scooby-doo fandom anymore. I like the characters, but not the show itself. It also gave me a chance to revise my personal site and make it more professional looking, lest a future employer stumble onto it, as has happened in the past.