Warming up to winter break

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It’s been nice to get a relaxing start to winter break (though I’ve gotten little work done so far). I’m looking forward to getting a good bit of work in before heading to Roanoke. Hopefully will get to catch a few more events around town, whether another basketball game or giving some blood downtown. Should be fun.

Also, apparently Kim Jong Il has just passed, so his creepy little son is going to have a swing at playing “Dear Leader”. I don’t see this ending well for anyone in that area, but it’ll be interesting. With the stories on this, Qaddafi, Bin Laden, and all the other folks meeting their demise this year, it’s been a rough year for jerk international figures.

Too bad… or something.

2011
12/18
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End of Semester Wind down

It’s been a hectic last few days, but everything with the semester is wrapping up and I got a decent number of my goals accomplished. Would have liked a few things to end up differently, but still learned a lot in the process and I think I’m set up pretty well for the upcoming semester.

For the next few days I’m trying to focus on getting things together for a manuscript and for prelims. I’m still organizing a lot of information (and using the newly updated Mendeley, which is looking nice as always) for each project and hope to have some good work out of the way by this weekend.

Those are pretty much the only things I’m focusing on for awhile now. Done with Christmas dinners (in town at least) and there’s plenty of good time before heading home to knock out some things, so here’s really hoping that it gets done…

Though I must admit that Tuba Christmas was interesting as always…

2011
12/12
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Back in Roanoke for the Week

It’s Thanksgiving time and I’m back in the Star City to spend a few days. Don’t plan on doing much in the area other than try to get some work done and hopefully catch up with a few folks, even if it’s just for a short while. There’s also some football game or the like this weekend, or so I’ve been told…

For now I’m trying to focus on relaxing a bit and gearing up to close out the semester… I’m sure it’ll be interesting, for better or worse. I’m just hoping there’s not a ton of craziness coming up that gets a bit overwhelming, but that may be wishful thinking. 

2011
11/22
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Warming Up to Thanksgiving

It’s been a pretty crazy weekend of sports (minus the Redskins losing…again). College football is in disarray right now, and Virginia Tech is actually looking to be in a good position, IF we can keep winning the games that quite frankly we should be winning. Next up is UVA for the division title. If we handle business, we go on to Charlotte to face Clemson. If we handle business there, it’s the Orange Bowl or maybe even somewhere nicer….

We’ve got a nice bowl lined up regardless, so I guess I’ll just be grateful for that.

I’m trying to get motivated enough to get my work done right now and have some significant strides made early in the week (before heading to Appomattox and the game at UVA). I’ve so far figured out a bunch of things I’ve done wrong in trying to get these LCAs wrapped up, so here’s to getting something right going forward. 

2011
11/20
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Good Intentions, But…

According to recent reports, there are a number of initiative to address post-traumatic stress disorder in service members returning from conflict areas. However, there is little to no coordination and communication between these different efforts, to figure out what is working well and what, quite frankly, is not.

While I applaud the military’s efforts at working toward psychological health and well-being for service members, I am concerned (but not entirely surprised) that there is so little coordination in figuring which programs are more effective and not only lead to optimal outcomes for recipients in the short-term, but provide long-term support that is necessary for a return to healthy functioning in society and at home. 

However, efforts like these are encouraging to me, whether  addressing psychological concerns or working to build skills for even greater adjustment for service members. There is certainly a need and an obligation to provide services for those who have sacrificed so much in serving their country, but I would love to see greater efficiency to ensure that programs are effective and sustainable.

2011
11/14
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Capping Off

The University’s Capital Campaign fundraiser has come to a close and I was honored to take part in the event. Everyone had a great time, and all the speaking parts went off without a hitch (thank goodness). There was over $1.1 Billion raised, which is just awesome. I’m looking forward to seeing many of the projects funded by this event come to fruition now (and it wouldn’t hurt to see a new building come together for the MVs too…)

Now, it’s really time to shift back to getting a lot of other work done. I’m trying to still organize thoughts for prelims, but I’m currently thinking of focusing on active, dynamic emotion regulation of self-conscious emotions and how that self-regulatory approach relates with the approach of self-compassion. My thoughts on how to approach these prelims have shifted dramatically over the recent weeks, but I keep getting a bit more coherent and focused with my approach ,which is what I need. Now with this thought in mind, I need to focus on how I’ll approach developmental and social topics and go from there. Should be good stuff.

I’m going to catch up with some folks real quick for brunch now then head to a luncheon with some prospective students. Always a great way to spend Sunday.

2011
11/13
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Blog-Hopping

Apparently there are ways to get WordPress posts over to Tumblr, but not the other way around…pretty annoying. Anyway, I’ve decided to try back with blogging on this service, just because I feel like I actually take the time to write more thoughts and (slighlty) longer posts here. We’ll see how long this lasts, but it’s always nice to get ideas out there and sharing material.

I have a lot of work I SHOULD be doing to get ready for prelims and the like…and the campaign closing this weekend. I guess I’ll hold off on more work on this for now, but glad to use Live Writer and other tools to really get back into the swing of things.

2011
11/10
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Grad School, Round Two

After a hectic but rewarding summer, classes are back in swing and there’s plenty of work to get done. I’m currently focusing on getting readjusted to classes, and still keeping my eyes on everything from conference work to thesis and manuscript writings and looking toward all sorts of meetings with all sorts of people. It’s pretty good stuff. Busy, but good I think. Time management is going to be crucial though.

There’s also football and MV work that should be pretty nice. I won’t be going to the game against Boise State, but I should be able to catch most all of the other games. Fair enough I think.

Other than that, I ‘m just trying not to get overwhelmed. Easier said than done, but it’s working out so far. This year should be pretty nice I think.

2010
08/25
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Wedding Plans

Unfortunately, I’m going to be missing out on the wedding I was planning on attending today. I got a pretty bad migraine last night that followed me through to today. As of 1 pm I’m feeling a good bit better, but I think it’s more due to getting to rest with a lot of drink, medicine, and cool dark settings than I would’ve got trying to head up the road and sit in a car for well over an hour with it being about 100 degrees outside. I’m really sorry not to get the chance to see a lot of people for this though. It’s going to be a great event and I at least look forward to seeing some great pictures of everyone getting the chance to celebrate such a joyous event.

For now I’m going to try to get some more rest and maybe consider getting some minor work done if I feel up to it later this evening.

2010
07/24
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Summer Hectics

It’s been a busy past few weeks with all of the work toward conferences and manuscripts and the like, but I haven’t gone crazy yet, so I’m just looking toward staying on top of things as best as possible and working toward continually progressing and learning. There are a lot of promising projects going on right now and I’m hoping they’ll lead to some great experiences in the coming months. This week is bringing the end of orientation work, a wedding on the horizon, and plenty of reading to get out of the way, but it’s almost over and I don’t want to rush it. I’m still enjoying the fact that even with the chaos, this is still summer, and it’s only going to get crazier in the fall. But for now, it’s time to get back to  being productive, and keeping up on syntax work and figuring out literature and tidying up writings.

Always a pleasure.

2010
07/21
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