it's not easy being a grad student.

Welcome to February, or as I like to call it, a month of finals week. Times are hard and rather than turn to diety (he said he's been swamped by calls this week and he could not shake his cold) or liquor (who wants to associate booze with misery?) for comfort, I have found solice in online shopping. It's amazing what you realize you need when confronted with a paper that won't write itself, a computer that works most but not all of the time, and an entire armada of rapidly multiplying file folders that have somehow managed to take over the entire room.

But really, online shopping is great for times like this. When your whole life is spent in front of a Word document that will not quit and your phone never rings, it's nice to have something to look forward to. Getting an Ugly Doll in the mail made my day.

He smiles at me as I track the rest of my packages.