renovate my what now?

i've been reading lots of television schedules, in part because i was a little underutilized at work today and in part because the pattern i've settled into involves watching network tv routinely for the first time ever. i too, like millions of americans, change from work clothes to pajamas, warm up some dinner, and turn to television for my nightly entertainment. i too watch reality shows!

not all of them. i haven't sunk that far. and to be fair i've enjoyed my share in the past. still, it feels strange to be reading previews & guides and mentally marking when exactly shows will appear to dazzle and delight me -- or at least tint my drab hours between the end of Jeopardy! and sleep.

it's one reason to stick to grad skool. unfortunately i'm not looking for reasons to stick. something about that one classroom experience, fairly or unfairly, made me want to leap from higher education like a gazelle from a burning building. my parents haven't quite come round to this idea yet, that their little girl might not get a master's after all. maybe i'll want to be a student again someday; for now, they'll have to be satisfied with my trying to be a Businesswoman.

i've also been improving my mind. three books finished in the past couple days: vanity fair, postcards from the edge, and life of pi. all good, of course, in such disparate ways that it's pointless to compare them. but life of pi thrilled me. i wanted to reread it immediately and talk about it with everyone. on the other hand, i can't say it changed how i think about god, which is supposedly-sorta the book's intention. i'm not sure i even figured out why it should. -- but read it if you haven't, so we can talk about it. please.

coming up on the new year and i've been in new york for a month. wow.