One Step at a Time

Well, I've reached midterm time. For two of my three classes, that means a take-home exam which, at this point in my life, I prefer to an in-class exam by far. My more interesting paper is for my Health Policy class, where I'm writing about using different frameworks to analyze the US health care system. For example, should markets determine the health care system? How about employers? Local communities? Doctors? Is there a right to health and, if so, what does that mean for the health care system and the government? Well, that's a little taste of what's going to be going through my head for the next day or so.

In other news, Binsey has now started going up the stairs on her own. This is a big deal for us since we've had to carry her up there whenever we wanted her to take a nap in her crate upstairs.

Cutest Dog Competition

Binsey, despite being free to take home, does not come cheap to take care of. So, I entered one of her super cute puppy pictures into a "cutest dog competition" so she can help earn her keep. Please vote for her so we don't have to throw her out on the street*!



*we won't really throw her out on the street, but we do want you to vote for her!

Fall is in the Air

Yesterday I decided to make some cupcakes, and to decorate them with some kind of theme. So, I bought some food coloring and well, maybe went a little overboard with it. But these pumpkins came out real cute, so I had to show them off!




I used the "neon" line of food colors. To make them look like pumpkins, I used a toothpick to carve out the ridges. The stem is made from chocolate that I melted and molded by hand. I know the vines aren't "anatomically correct" or whatever, but I made green frosting and had to use it somehow.

Overheard on campus...

Today while walking through campus during another big rain storm (we've probably had about 6 inches of rain in the last few weeks), I overheard two undergraduate guys having this conversation:

Guy1: Dude, when I go home this weekend I'm totally getting an umbrella.

Guy2: Yeah, me too. I already called my mom and was like "Hey Ma, get me an umbrella." And she was like "You mean one of those $5 umbrellas?" and I was like "Yeah, get me one of those."

Umm.. yeah... you guys are old enough to buy your own umbrellas!

Bird Watching

So we just went out the front door to take the dog out, only to be greeted by this!

From Dresden

UPDATE: To explain further, this thing is a hot air balloon in the shape of a bald eagle. Why it looked like that, I don't know. There was another normal hot air balloon further out that said "Oliver Winery" on it (a local winery), so I guess they must do these fall foliage balloon rides. Either way, it scared the heck out of me when I saw it!

Interdepartmental Courses

WARNING: Nerd Alert!

One of the most exciting things in graduate school is the opportunity for interdepartmental courses. Right now I'm taking a class in Health Policy, and while it's not listed as an interdepartmental course, we have students from a number of different programs, including Public Administration, Sociology, Social Work, and Political Science. Some of the students have never left school, while others have been working for a decade before deciding to go back for an advanced degree. It's just great to have those perspectives when you're discussing things like how state-run Medicaid programs should function versus how they actually function.

Now if only I could get focused on the book I have to read for that class, called "Healthy Wealthy & Fair: Health Care and the Good Society". I'm having to look up tons of things, like what "inside the Beltway" means (thank you Wikipedia.org), but that's probably a good thing since I don't usually read economics or political books on my own. Plus, it can only make me better at telling economists why they're wrong about people (haha).

Pronunciation

A funny thing in Social Science theory, or at least I think it's funny, is that people who are normally speaking English suddenly develop a German accent when referencing Max Weber. Apprently, saying Maaahx Vay-baar must sound much more sophiticated or intellectual than saying his name like you'd read it out of a US phone book - Macks Web-ber. I don't know, I just think it's kind of pretentious, but then again I'm the odd one out on this. For now, I'm holding out as long as I can with my American accent. Maybe I'll sound just as abrasive as the Germanophiles sound to me, but I can deal with that better than pretending to have an accent.

Might I also add that Hoosiers doesn't mess with foreign pronunciation, as in Peru, Indiana, pronounced "pay-roo". Our neighbors in Illinois do likewise with Des Plaines (dehs playnes). Even Kentucky gets it, pronouncing Versailles, KY as "ver-sails". I'm definitely not the only one to Americanize pronunciation.

So let's see how long I get away with my little rebellion.