Busy...

It's been a few years, and I've been a bit busy.

 I have been working on my PhD, and I managed to pass my Candidacy exams last May (2015). I also have faced illness and now am a Type II Diabetic. I've also run out of funding for school because I've taken too many hours to finish this degree, so I've launched a fundraising page in order to raise money to pay for school. I did not ask for the amount I would really need for finishing school, but I've asked for some under the hope that I can successfully petition for more hours and finish my degree.

 Since this is my second petition, there is the possibility that I will not be successful.

 All I ask for is prayers if you are the praying type. If you can donate even a small amount, I would be forever grateful, but I won't be upset if you cannot or choose not to help out. How can I be mad? I probably don't even know you, and you don't know me from a hole in the wall. Anyway, I can't guarantee that I will write a ton of things on my blog, as finishing my degree is my top priority, but I'll try to keep you, gentle reader, in the loop.

 On the positive side of things, I have managed to get two jobs that will help out a lot. One is as a tutor and the other is a graduate assistantship appointment that will help with tuition (which is great news, if the person is accurate in their information).

 If nothing else, advice for those going into college at any level: Be your own advocate for financial aid! Keep on top of things. Keep track of your hours and any time you contact your financial aid office, write down what they tell you and make sure to get that person's name. You are your best hope of keeping yourself eligible for aid.

 Take care, everyone. :-)

The Fundraising Continues...

Hi everyone. I'm back again to talk about my fundraiser to help me get to San Diego in a couple of weeks (yikes!), but I have something new: An interview I did with Jen of Think Jen, Think. In the interview, I talk about my studies and why I think looking at onomatopoeics is worthwhile. I especially love the fact that the image she used of me is the picture I took with Peter S. Beagle (he wrote The Last Unicorn, a book I love and one of my favorite film adaptations of all time). I recommend that people check out the interview and consider contributing $5 to my fundraiser. If you cannot donate (or online donations aren't your thing), you can spread the word to others. You can even send donations offline if you aren't comfortable with the whole online thing (contact me through the GoFundMe webpage).

I'll try to keep people posted about the fundraiser and my success. I'll even post a follow-up after it's all over. Thank you for your support.

Trying to Get to San Diego

Hi everyone. I am doing a fundraiser to help me get to San Deigo. I have been given the opportunity to present a paper at the Comics Arts Conference, which is part of the San Deigo Comic-con. For those of you who remember, I am a PhD student who is studying comics. As time has gone on, I have honed in my focus on sound effects in Japanese manga and American comics. This presentation is, essentially, an opportunity to try out my dissertation at a huge event. I am going to do whatever it takes to get there, and I've set up a fundraiser webpage to ask for money. Any help that I can get will be greatly appreciated, so check out the link below.

Most people know that being a graduate student is costly; I've got a four-year-old to take care of and a whole family to support on a meager salary. I am going to this conference because this is important to my career; here is a chance for me to meet people who can help me get to the next level in my research. This is also my first time going to Comic-con and, I'm not going to lie, I'd really love to go at least once. I had to give up two other conferences this year because of the need to do my candidacy exams, so the paper is incorporating resources from my exams so that my research is doing double-duty to get me ready for this. If you have even a dollar that you can donate, that would be very helpful. Please do what you can.

Also, if you happen to be attending Comic-con, look for me at my panel. It should be on the website eventually (the link is on the fundraising site). If you're curious, GoFundMe is kind of like Kickstarter for individuals. Let's see how successful I can be. I'll keep you posted as things come in.

My Fundraising Page

Daffodils

The groundskeepers at my company decided (after suggestions from workers here) to cut the daffodils that are growing around campus because of the impending cold snap and make them available for people to take for "personal use", whatever that means. They're pale yellow [my favorite color & one of my wedding colors] and I have about half a dozen of them in a cafeteria cup on my desk. I'll upload pictures if a)I remember to and b)I have time. They smell really nice & it's a little something to brighten up my desk, especially since I'm in a cubicle in the room with only one set of windows in the front and I'm all the way in the back.

I took some daffodils for a secondary reason: a reminder of a fund-raiser I once headed for the American Cancer Society. I was in charge of the Daffodil Days project for my office, where I was in charge of selling, ordering, and delivering daffodils to individuals and corporations in the Franklin County area. My goal (as they are want to set these things) was to raise $15,000, and I managed to sell over $13,000 despite not having a committee to assist me & only having myself, my husband, and a Godsend volunteer who came in off the street to do the bulk of the deliveries. That, and having Battelle order more than 50% of the flowers didn't hurt, either. I only got to head the project in 2004 (I left at the end of that summer to start grad school), but it was my crowning achievement in an otherwise lackluster career as an administrative assistant for three years. It's one of the few things I missed from that job (there were a few co-workers, but not many that I got along with), but I wouldn't go back to it. For one thing, it's not possible; the Ohio Division of the ACS reorganized to be a handful of larger offices instead of the 17 units that were in place when I was still in their employ and so my job doesn't really exist anymore. Also, I wouldn't be too thrilled to go back to a job that only requires a high school diploma when I hold a Masters degree and want to get started on a PhD as quickly as possible.

Wow, that was a tangent! Anyway, I'm luxuriating in the ardor of spring via my flowers, so I shall end this and get back to work!