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By Jess, April 21, 2009 4:46 pm

I’ve been off the blogosphere for a bit, but if you’re on Twitter, you know that I’m far from absent from the internet. I’ll be fully back on the radar in a few days. And I mean, back. This semester handed me a whoopin’, and I plan to enjoy whatever Senior Spring is left.

This week is surely the most demanding of my college career in terms of projects and tests, but I have survived so far with decent amounts of sleep. I took my second test of the week today, the very last test of my Georgetown career! I shook hands with my professor in congratulatory celebration. I completed one of my audio projects on Sunday, which you can listen to on MySpace Music. Check it out if you’re curious and haven’t already seen it on facebook and Twitter.

All I have left is my radio doc on Strivers’ Section/St. Augustine’s and my thesis. I’m trying to keep up the momentum. Friday = salvation.

I will cease with the boring recap, but hopefully I’ll be blogging about something of interest next time. Emotions about unemployed graduation? Hopefully, I’ll be blogging out life as an intern. I’m crossing my fingers.

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By Jess, April 3, 2009 9:10 pm

I just wrote what was supposed to be a review of a music performance at a church, but it ended up being a scathing indictment of Catholicism (read: Pope Benedict XVI). I’m feeling pretty satisfied for a Friday night.

Sorry to everyone for not blogging in two weeks. I had an onslaught of assignments and a new mutation of my four-week cold following my Spring Break in LA. Now I am down to the nitty gritty of graduating. My three major projects are 1.) my NPR-style radio piece; 2.) my new song; and 3.) my thesis for Political Economy.

While parts of each one can be pleasantly gratifying, all together they can be frustrating. I traveled to St. Augustine’s Church at 15th and V Streets twice in the past week to observe mass and record some live sound. I also walked around the surrounding historic district, Strivers’ Section (picture above). It’s been quite a long time since I’ve set foot in a Catholic Church, omitting cultural tourism of course. It was a surreal experience in that everything was so familiar there. I was sucked into a world where I felt comfortable, where I knew what happened next. If I was magically reactivating my Catholicism, I would go to St. Augustine’s each week. Their Gospel Choir and Chorale are fantastic, and I’ve never before felt so welcomed in a new place. That said, I couldn’t help but scribble all my frustrations about the Catholic Church in my notebook during the homily. My views about the Church haven’t changed, but my views of the people in the Church have. For now, I’m treating Catholicism like a plate of hors’dourves . I’ll take what I like and spit out the rest. Bad analogy?

In my last post, I wrote that my dream job exists. Well, it may exist, but it’s not easy to get. I knew that before, but the point is being hammered home each and every day. I go through waves of confidence and inspiration. Meet one person one day and soar on a high of hope. One week later, I’m back down on earth and sifting through the realities of post-graduation unemployment.

My house has been afflicted with the jobless blues, and it’s been pretty noticeable. Each week, we prop one another up in our down times. The next week, it’s someone else that needs some cheering up. I may be biased here, but we are some kick ass ladies. We are pre-med English majors, Nursing majors that have delivered babies, and Culture & Politics majors that know the location and independence date of countries I have never even heard of. And of course, I am a Political Economy and Music major. We are amazing.

Easter Break is just around the corner. Thank you, Catholic education. I’ll be heading up to Boston for some family time. For all those are unfortunate enough to work on Holy Thursday and Good Friday, remember: the Pope hates condoms. I don’t get it either…

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By Jess, March 3, 2009 10:23 pm

Life overall has decreased in stressfulness since I last posted. In one respect, though, I’m still shaking in my shoes. I’m haunted by my thesis. Tonight while taking a shower, I thought, “Well, at least if I fail my thesis class, I’ll at least graduate with one major.” This is hopefully an exaggeration, but I feel a bit like the underdog in this battle.

I have a thesis question that was approved and discussed with my TA and professor. After meeting with another professor who does relevant research, I’m not so sure I can actually answer my own question! Correction. I could answer it, but the answer would be meaningless and unsubstantiated. So… I need to change the question slightly. On the bright side, I’ve met my first warm and welcoming Econ professor at Georgetown, and he’s offered to give me assistance on this thesis journey. Thank you, God.

I can do it, I can do it, blah, blah, blah. Writing this thesis is not as simple as sitting down, reading some literature, and writing 30 pages about it. I could do that. It’s about finding a (free) dataset, running a regression in a statistical program, and writing about my results. Several problems arise here. 1.) I currently can’t find a free dataset. 2.) I’m not sure from dataset descriptions which datasets will be most useful. 3.) After I find the dataset, I anticipate struggling to input it into STATA. 4.) I will inevitably see alarming statistical problems that invalidate my results.

Blurgh, as Tina Fey would say. Blurgh and a half. Every once in a while, I come to an obstacle in academia that I can’t wrap my mind around. For Calculus, it was Taylor and Mclaurin series. For Econ, it looks like its performing statistical regressions.

I’m trying to be proactive in in this epic struggle. I’m meeting with a librarian tomorrow to discuss datasets. I’m also instituting a daily 8:30AM wake-up call. Let’s get ready to rumbbbbble! It’s thesis time.

This only makes graduating easier. I will not miss this.

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By Jess, February 22, 2009 11:08 pm

FYI, I write about music/tech/law issues on a weekly basis at Music Biz Blog. It’s part of my tutorial on music business in the digital age. Enjoy and happy reading!

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By Jess, February 8, 2009 10:30 pm

Factors preventing me from blogging:

1.) tests
2.) thesis proposals (thesis topic… TBA)
3.) parents’ weekend
4.) fancy dinners
5.) work

But hurrah! I have a cell phone. I’ll hopefully be back in action Wednesday after attending Future of Music Coalition’s DC Policy Day.

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By Jess, January 22, 2009 10:45 pm

The inauguration has thrown off my game. Or rather, the ensuing fatigue has. I skipped a class today to do homework for tomorrow’s class in order to go to the West Virginia game tonight where Hoyas lost terribly to the Mountaineers and I lost my cell phone. Blurgh.

Things could be worse, but I couldn’t be more excited for the weekend to arrive.

On a random note, I’ve been watching St. Elmo’s Fire in bits and pieces, and I’ve become obsessed with the Love Theme. I seem to be 22 years too late for this sensation.