On the way to school this morning, we passed the Sonic we pass every morning. This is the Sonic to which we look for lunatic inspiration. A couple of years ago they had a sign out for “Cheesy Coney & Tots,” which inspired an entire, imagined 1970s-style television cop drama. Cheesy and Coney were the two cops, always doing things their own way, just outside departmental regulations, and Tots was their informant. “You’re a loose cannon, Cheesy! I’ll have your badge for this!”

This morning there was a a sign for their “Lenten Special.”

L: “What kind of Lenten Special could they have at Sonic?”

G: “I have no idea.”

L: “Maybe people are giving up tots for Lent.”

G: “Yeah, I guess…Bring out your tots.”

L: *laughs*

G: *rolling down window, shouting in my best Monty Python voice* “Bring out your tots!…Bring out your tots!”

Construction workers building a house nearby look up with curiosity.

Not much on the blogging burner, but here’s “Sunken Waltz,” (mp3, 3.5MB) by Calexico.

Oh, and thanks for all the good wishes about my health. My throat is scratchy and sore, but my body feels better.

MP3 files are posted for evaluation purposes only. Availability is limited: usually 24 hours. Through this site, I’m trying to share and promote good music with others, who will also hopefully continue to support these artists. Everyone is encouraged to purchase music and concert tickets for the artists you feel merit your hard earned dollars. If you hold copyright to one of these songs and would like the file removed, please let me know.

I haven’t been sick in over a year. Today I’m at home, in bed, feeling icky.

Here’s something a little OCD about me: Whenever I take a stack of books back to the library, I record them in a little list because I’m afraid I haven’t gotten everything out of them and might need to go back and reread them.

I almost never reread them, of course.

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I alluded to my frustrations in an earlier post. I’ll share one of them with you now.

Like many universities, mine has a research grant program for faculty. We can apply for a few thousand dollars in an application process that is judged by a committee of other faculty from across the disciplines. I’ve applied three times for this grant unsuccessfully. That would be frustrating enough, but here’s how the three applications went down:

1. First application: I was told that it was very good, particularly the explanation of the relationship of my work to work being done in the field, but that the explanation of my methodology was deemed “too subjective.”
2. Second application: I was told that it was very good, particularly my revised methodology explanation, but that the weak part was the explanation of the relationship of my work to work being done in the field. However, this explanation was unchanged from the previous attempt, when I was told that it was a strength of the application.
3. Third application: I was given no reason why my application was rejected, but I was told that there had been a “problem” in the review process.

None of this feedback is given in writing. I don’t know why. Furthermore, I am only allowed three applications for a particular project, so now I can either craft an application for a different project (even though my research for this one is not done), or I can make any future applications look like they are for a different project.

I am not a perfect scholar, and I’m not burning up the publishing track, but whenever I go to national and international conferences, scholars from other institutions express enthusiasm and admiration for my research. At my own institution, however, it sometimes feels as if I’m invisible.