Happy Birthday Sanda!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have been betrayed by birth control. Now, don't get all panicky just yet (Dad! calm down!), this isn't the prelude to a birth announcement. However, DepoProvera and I have a deal: I take a shot every three months, and I don't get pregnant or a bleeding uterus. This deal has been working extremely effectively since August, but SOMEONE fell through on their end of the deal last night! So, yeah... guess why I was irritable last week? Hello, PMS.

MetaFilter has a very interesting ongoing thread about gender roles and transsexuals that I've been participating in a bit. It's threads like this that made me fall in love with MeFi back in the day, and I'm glad to see one like this instead of the petty whining that has characterized the last few months. I come to MeFi to learn and to be entertained. And, though none of you will understand the significance of this (unless languagehat happens to stop by), I must say that I've actually found myself appreciating quonsar lately. Q's been actually giving useful input and being nice instead of throwing in the snarky comments and inappropriate jokes that he is known and loved for. Some sort of a miracle must have happened!

I had a good chat with two of my linguistics professors today, and was introduced to another who usually has more research money to give jobs with in the summer, so that's good. I spoke with both of them about how they feel being professors and also being female, and whether they've been hindered in any way because of it, and they both said that they can't really say that they have, which is encouraging. When I was considering being a theology prof (!), I was always somewhat intimidated by the Boy's Club atmosphere of seminary faculty lounges. It's nice to know that things are good on that front, at least at York and U of T's Linguistics departments.

I was also encouraged by my Syntax professor to think about applying for U of T's graduate programs, especially if I decide to pursue Syntax instead of Sociolinguistics, and even more especially if I decide to study Inuktitut. Apparantly there is a professor there who did her dissertation on Inuktitut and is supervising a few Master's students in their work on the language, and there is another, more well-known professor there who works in Athabaskan languages. I'm still very keen on Sociolinguistics, but York only has a Master's, no PhD in the field, so it's good to keep my options open, and U of T has a higher status in the snottier regions of the world.

In other news, Chris got a cat from the Humane Society on Sunday and promptly named him Metro. He's 2 years old, incredibly cute and curious about everything and very friendly, and I have the feeling that I will have some competition for Chris's attention. There is a squirrel that somehow finds his way up onto Chris's ledge (he's on the 10th floor!) and I can't wait to see Metro react to THAT. He's cute enough that I might even let him sleep in bed with us next time I stay over. The Humane Society was kind of sad though... there are two other kitties in there that I really want now, they reminded me of Linda's cats and they were rubbing up against the bars of the cage and purring and awww.... and the dogs! SO CUTE! I so want a dog, and I really really can't have one. Someone needs to get a dog and be my friend so that I can play with it but not pay for it. That would be ideal.