I'm not sure how other people's jobs go, but I have just spent the past hour dealing with e-mails alone. Only e-mails, and I receive about 75 a day, that absolutely need to be responded to. And if I slack, I miss something. The e-mail has turned into an almost ESP device. People expect you to receive it as they send it, and are surprised when you don't pop back in return. My students are the worst. If anybody out there is a student, I have some friendly advice for you:
1. Always address your prof/instructor with a proper greeting- No "hey" and no skipping greetings all together
2. Always explain who you are, even if the teacher knows you well, it is often difficult to figure out your identity from your e-mail address
3. Stop thinking we are stupid!! We can see the tricks- like the quick e-mail in hopes that the teacher won't figure out your identity, or the lies- god, the lies. Just because its on e-mail and we can't see your eyes- doesn't mean it is easier to lie!
I got a student today who claims, oh, never mind, he's lying to me. I'm far more likely to give the truthful kid who has a silly crisis a make-up exam, than the liar who feels his story isn't good enough. I was willing to give a make-up exam to a student with a broken heart! If he had lied and said somebody had died, he would have been much more unlikely...
Okay, I'm rambling.
I'll think of more rules later, I haven't even had my coffee yet.

Success!

So, all my laziness and procrastination, and childish decisions (ahem, party until 6 am) totally paid off!!! My presentation went so well, that the question and answer period went 30 minutes overtime!!! Also, two of the best professors in my department came, which is TWO more than at any other student presentation. Famous ones. Ones who I really care what they think. And they stayed the whole time!! Although it was a little embarressing when I quoted one of them- I didn't think he would be coming- you never expect the people you quote to be sitting there in the room. The whole experience was so validating. Like, I put in some work, then spoke on what I have studied, then asked for feedback and guidance on what to look at next. I even had some students who have dismissed me in the past, confide some of their insecurities to me afterwords!!! I've never had that happen before- treated like a peer, instead of either a) kind of a silly girl with a fluff topic (happens to blond gigglers from the Valley) or b) treated like a fragile person dealing with horrific tragedy (mom's suicide last year). I was actually treated like a colleague. I always asume that my ranking in my department is the lowest, or just one above the girl who has trouble with English, but I really feel some confidence after today. Maybe my ranking is higher than I thought, or maybe, more likely, it could be in the future with some work. I really needed this dose of confidence. I get so scared that I am going to fizzle, I really worked myself up on this one, even fought with D in the morning, and forgot stuff all over town, which doubled my getting to the presentation time from two hours to four (I kept having to run back to the car, find a coffee shop that was open, forgot my ATM card and had to write myself a check and go to the bank and cash it!) Then I thought nobody was going to show up except the person who was supposed to publicize it, because he forgot to publicize it well. Well, that just didn't happen, and it was amazing... I get so scared I'm never going to do more. I want to turn this talk, and a topic inspired by this talk, into journal articles, but I am just so tired. This is where the anti-depressent thing really sounds good- imagine how much I could do if I wasn't so tired and choked up all the time. At the same time, do I really want to be a super productive robot??? Okay, I"m going to live on this for a while, not get too negative.

Party Animal

My god
I haven't been able to post because I am soooo busy. I really screwed myself this weekend- partied waaaay to hard and didn't get anything done. Boy am I paying for it now. So tonight, Halloween night, I'm forced to prepare an entire presentation, due tomorrow, on my Master's degree. I had weeks to do this, the Masters has been written for months, yet I wait until the night before to go through the tedium/fun if it wasn't Halloween, of Power point magic. Sheesh...