*blush*

I had to email my fiction writing professor my self-assessment for a story (since it's something new she wants us to do with all the work we hand in and I forgot) and she sent this note back:

Thanks so much for sending this.

You're a real asset to the class. Thanks for being so very involved!

*blush*

That was nice to hear since I sometimes feel like a know-it-all in class, even though I don't think I am and honestly try to avoid coming off as an asshole, since I don't like that type of person.

The irony is that I've always considered myself kind of shy, but the older I get the more I realize that most people seem to be shyer than I am in the sense that I'm often one of the only people who speaks up!

(no subject)

My roommate K was born in the U.S. but has spent most of his life living in the Philippines, so the other day he pointed something out to me that I'd never noticed.

Mainly, that when Bostonians say the word "Suffolk" (as in the name of my school or Suffolk County) the L is silent, meaning that it's pronounced "Suh-fuck" with the second syllable sounding, well, exactly like the swear.

K told me that when he first came back to the States and was trying to get some information someone on the phone told him to contact the Registry in Suffolk... and he thought the clerk was swearing at him over the phone. It doesn't help that K's originally from California and not used to the Boston accent, the thicker versions of which can be near unintelligble if you're not used to it.

So yeah, people might think whenever I say the name of my school that I'm swearing at them. Never thought of that.

(no subject)

Today on my lunch break I went over to get a new skirt, since my old black skirt was from when I weighed about 10 pounds more and consequently doesn’t sit at my waist anymore (more like just around my hips, which means that it moves around and I have to constantly be straightening it) and I heard one of two of the employees, a guy and a girl, talking to each other. The guy was flamingly gay and describing how he surprised his boyfriend at work on his birthday by showing up with a boombox playing Lady Gaga and took him to Machine (a well known gay nightclub) when this exchange occurred:

Girl: Wow, I didn’t think you could get any gayer, but you somehow did.
Guy: Honey, this is Fagachusetts, no one even raised an eyebrow when I did it!

And despite myself I burst out laughing. I'd heard people refer to Mass that way derisively, but it seems that at least this guy is reclaiming it and using it as a point of pride.

D'oh!

One of the assignments in my CrimJ seminar is to interview a professional in the field, and a judge I know from Western Mass suggested I call his counterpart here in Suffolk County. So I looked the judge up and called the courthouse yesterday, leeft a message, and today got a callback from the judge’s clerk.
 
The judge’s first name is Leslie. You can probably guess where this is going. Yup, I asked if I could schedule an interview with her and then had the clerk say that she would connect me to his voicemail since he was in the Dorchester court that day.
 
Fuck.
 
In my defense the judge’s profile on Mass.gov does not give any clue as to his gender, nor does it have a photo, and I know more female Leslies than male Leslies. Still, my face must’ve gone beet red. It’s also confusing because with judges you always refer to them as “The Honorable Judge So-and-so” and most of the time you don’t even use a first name.
 
But I managed to get over my embarrassment long enough to leave a message asking for an interview, and I think I was pretty eloquent. Still, if I had Googled the name I would have seen that the first hit was an article talking about his work with juveniles.

I am going to tell this story in my class if only to help prevent another student from making the same mistake, and because despite my embarassment it is a funny story. I'm also pretty sure that the clerk is used to this since she sounded amused, so it probably happens a lot.