Yesterday was a mindnumbing blur. The alarm went off at 5:30am so my wife could catch her flight. Of course with her puttering around I couldn't go back to sleep. Then our son woke up. I tended to him while my wife finished packing, sending and receiving the last few emails, etc. He went back to sleep and I came out of his room with just enough time to see the cab pull up out the front window.

I managed to get back to sleep, but not for very long. The boy was due at the nanny's at 9:30, and if I wanted to make it to my professor's office hours I had to head straight for school. I had to stop at home and pick up my books, then grab an egg tasty and a double capp first.

Parking was the next obstacle. I had hoped to have enough time to study for my test (something the professor called a "learning exercise." Alas, it took 20 minutes of driving to find parking (in the ramp), then a walk down three floors to find a working ticket machine. When I finally bought my parking ticket I climbed straight up the guard rails between the ramp levels to get back up to my car.

I got to the sociolinguistics prof's office and found that I had a half an hour to kill. I tried to look through my notes, prep for the test, but it didn't go very well. The Prof and I had a lovely conversation about register, networks, politeness strategies, and two year olds (she has one too). Then straight to the test.

The test was 75 minutes, and in spite of knowing the material fairly well, it was not pleasant. "Learning exercise" is just marketing. It was a test, no, a trial. I had twenty minutes of rest after the test, then 75 minutes of lecture on social networks and different perspectives on variation within speech communities. Great stuff when you're well rested and happy. In my condition, well, I can think of things that would have suited me better at the time.

I got home just in time to go pick up the boy. Then dinner, play play play, and the hour long fight before bed. So it goes in the life of a grad student, husband of rising internet star, and father.

This blog is primarily going to address linguistics related issues, particularly those which are relevant to my classes. Watch this space to get my perspective on all things language related.

Oh, and just for the record, because this week is this week: I think it's vital that we protect marriage FOR EVERYBODY. So how about a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the same rights to our friends in the LBGT community. Now, away from politics and on to language...