Bright Woman Blog

It’s no wonder I resist going to the library ….

Maybe I will be better suited at a coffee shop for this week!

It’s Austin in August - students have started coming back for the Fall semester and it is HOT outside. This Summer has been nothing like last year and I really miss the rainy days and cooler weather. We’ve been in a triple digit heat wave for over a month and I am ready for Fall more than ever right now.

This Summer has been trying at best … lots of data collection, dissertation writing and trying to stay sane as I get things wrapped up for my PhD. I am beginning to realize more than ever why the time between your comps and completing your dissertation is so dangerous. It is now down to just me and my motivation to get this thing done and motivation has been lacking as I sit at my desk staring at the computer.

With everything going on, I have been living vicariously through my friend Nancy who has been blogging away about her fabulous Summer in New York City - I am so anxious to have a Summer again with nothing to write and no deadlines looming. The PhD will be wrapped up sometime this Fall, so things are looking good for next Summer.

The next couple of weeks will bring more of the same - hot weather, writing and motivating myself to be done. I can finally feel what it will be like to be done and I just can’t wait - it is going to be so exciting!!

Ok, time to stop writing in the blog and get back to writing academic stuff. I keep thinking of one of y favorite Wilco songs with a line in it that says “I can’t find the time to write my mind the way I want it to read” - maybe I will get that figured out sometime this week ;).

Took a day off last week to head to Krausse Springs - what a nice choice!

Last week I finished what is hopefully my last long semester at UT as a PhD student. In addition, it marked the end of the “Advertising on the Internet” course I have been teaching all semester to around 150 undergraduate students. As I presume most people do, when things end, I tend to think about how they begun and what has changed, good or bad, since that time. As such, many memories have come to mind over the last week …

In the Fall of 1995, I came to Austin to pursue an undergraduate degree in Communications from UT. I was required to take a course from each department and elected to begin with a radio, television and film (RTF) class on digital media. The course was taught by a woman named Aviva who was a PhD student in the RTF department. She seemed to have equal parts of smarts and sass and thus I was naturally intrigued. I ended up working on a special project for her class with several other students and we met at the ACT Lab in the Communications building on campus. The ACT lab was a small room with about 6 desktop computers, black walls, no windows, and two bare light bulbs that hung down from the ceiling on coiled wires. We had our meetings there to discuss computer security and crimes, web design, networking, etc. … and thus, my fascination with academic research was hatched.

After that first Fall semester of college, I went on to finish my degree while starting a business with my brother, Ben. Then, after graduation, I happened into a job at a start-up in town and figured I would give that a shot. After becoming a “dot com millionaire” did not come through and the business tanked, I decided to go back to graduate school, liked it and decided to get my PhD.

By the time I made it through my coursework as a PhD student and was assigned to teach a course, I had not thought about Aviva in years. Then, on the first day of class this semester, I walked into the same class room that she taught my class in thirteen years ago and realized that I was now the crazy, exhausted PhD teacher lady. Walking into that auditorium to teach all semester put a smile on my face because I was constantly reminded of how far I have come and the things I have accomplished in the last decade.

I contemplated telling my students about my full circle moment on the first day of class but resisted. On the last day of class, I told them my little story and got a few laughs and claps … they seemed to enjoy knowing that I was in their shoes at some point ;). So, Aviva … if you are out there, thanks for inspiring me to teach, do research and be a crazy PhD lady.

Last night we had huge thunderstorms, so everything is looking nice and crisp this morning. It was a cool 68 degrees when I took Stella to the park with clear blue skies. She had a great time fetching the ball while I took pictures of trees, birds, flowers, etc. On the way home, we swung by my neighbors house so that I could check out his lily patch. Since I haven’t had much time to garden in the last couple of years, I delight in having a neighbor who is a fanatic gardener. He has half of his front yard devoted to a patch of tiger and day lilies that are blooming (and looking amazing) right now.

It’s been months since I have had the time to sit down and right something here … and, alas I have found time as I sit fumbling through all of the material for my first comprehensive exam on Monday morning. It’s funny how easy it is to find time for other things as I prepare for what appears to be my largest academic milestone to date. At UT, comprehensive exams come in fours so I will be whittling away my time preparing for them for the next four weeks, or until my last one on August 13th. By all accounts, it is going to be a both interesting and exhausting process. I can’t wait to be finished!

In other news, the last five months have proven to be both trying and exhilarating at the same time. I taught my first solo class in the Spring (Advertising on the Internet), secured my first journal publication (due out next year), managed to make it to several conferences, both for presentations and just to attend, and was able to secure three fellowships that will pay my way as I complete my dissertation next year. I flew back and forth across the US several times, to San Francisco, Las Vegas, Panama City Beach and Burlington, and came home relatively unscathed, minus the cracked rib from a nasty fall down a rain-drenched flight of stairs in the Dulles airport in Washington, D.C. I hadn’t experienced that degree of physical pain in quite some time and have since made an effort to slow down, especially when dealing with stairs. Oh, the things PhD students do to get more presentations on that vitae!

This summer has been good so far … some how we have reached the end of July without breaking 100 degrees in Austin which has to be some kind of record. It has been raining on an almost daily basis, bringing to life plants and fungi that I have never seen in Austin before … it truly is a jungle out there. In addition, it has brought all sorts of rodents and insects out of the woodwork which has proved to be interesting and slightly revolting at the same time. It will be nice when the water subsides and all of the little creatures can find their homes again … which are hopefully not inside my house.

For now, I am making it my job to enjoy the rain and cool weather while I try to prepare for my information science exam on Monday. I’ve managed to flip my mental switch into getting things done mode, finally, so I believe I am ready to sit in a cubicle and write for four straight hours on how user-generated content is impacting both usability and advertising life cycles in the interactive environment. Sounds pretty interesting, eh?

Just think, by the time I am done with these exams and the oral defense of them, I will be well on my way to turning 30 and getting my dissertation underway. Boy am I ready for a new decade … this one is getting a little old … no pun intended!

Btw, if you are reading this and have something brilliant to contribute to my thoughts for Monday, don’t hesitate to send me an email ;). My horoscope has advised that I beware of gaining knowledge without character … so, if you’ve got a good usability story, please pass it along for me to add to my collection!

Last night I, along with my brother, his wife, and my husband, attended the Jeff Tweedy (lead man of Wilco) concert at a nice auditorium on the UT campus. We had a good dinner and a few beers at the Dog & Duck Pub before hand. The concert was great and Jeff was just as funny and surly as he always comes off as being on the albums. The most humorous part of the evening, however, was not Jeff or the other band, but the people sitting directly next to us. It has been a long time since I have seen a concert goer scream and holler for a song with such fervor. At one point I got so tickled that I was crying and no longer making a laughing noise although I was still laughing. My personal favorite line was … “Play California Stars … Damnit .. It was our wedding song …” … repeated about 10 times during the evening, between every song until he played it. As my husband put it … “Of course they are married … it takes a team to be that annoying.” ;)

This will be my last of the ‘This letter stand for this’ series of posts … and a (no pun intended) good one to end on as well. I received an email this morning letting me know that I was accepted to present a poster session at the upcoming IA Summit in Las Vegas in March. Although I don’t much care for Nevada, I am delighted that my thesis re-write finally made it in to a conference and will see the light of day … the leather bound book on my office shelf was becoming a bit too dark and confining for it :). I am doing my best to coax my friend BA to meet me at the conference to enjoy the glitz and glamour of Vegas and help me traverse the waters of an information architecture conference. I will be posting more here as things start to unfold.

For now, I am faced with preparing for my class in the Spring … it will be my first time teaching my own class and the topic area is “Advertising on the Internet”. Albeit I know quite a bit about interactive advertising, it has still been difficult to step back and start from zero with all of the concepts and ideas. I have been trying to get into my 18 year old frame of mind and remember what is was like to know nothing about advertising and the Internet … so far, all I can remember is that I didn’t have a cell phone and social networking still meant going somewhere to meet someone in person. Alas, I see the generation gap unfolding before my eyes.

Alas, I have received my first rejection for a conference paper … they always say you remember your first time at everything and I doubt I will be forgetting my reviewers words anytime soon (wince). I got the email on Friday morning of last week and it has taken everything I’ve got to sit down and write papers all weekend. There is something about having your writing critiqued that doesn’t really give you the gumption to crank out 30 pages of fabulous prose for papers with looming deadlines. Oh well, time to just grin and bear it.

So, to get out of my “you are a miserable human being” funk, I have taken up residence this fine Sunday morning at the new coffee shop in my neighborhood. It is called Thunderbird Coffee and the logo they have reminds me of a pair of silver Thunderbird earrings my Grandmother gave me years ago … they were some my Grandfather had bought her on his first trip ‘Out West’ in the 1940s. Thunderbirds are a common site out there and, in my hometown of El Paso, Texas, the iron deposits in the mountains make the shape of a thunderbird. Fascinating stuff, I know ;).

Ok, back to the real world for now. Time to get papers written, finish my coffee, and quit staring into space. For someone who lives and breathes all things interactive, I find it disconcerting how hard it is to write about the Internet today … I wonder, will it be better by tomorrow? Unfortunately, that will be too late.

Back to burning the mid-day oil for now and cursing my lack of time management skills.

For the last ten years, or since I have moved to Austin, I have read the Free Will Astrology column in the Austin Chronicle every week. The astrologer who writes it is Bob Brezsny and he is based somewhere around San Francisco, CA. His horoscopes are the most eccentric and vivid I have seen and always make me think. I got this one about a month ago and thought it was worth saving …

Virgo (August 23-September 22)
Writing in The New York Times, Joyce Wadler captured the essence of a genre that has lost its once-heady repute. “Poetry, if we may take a moment to explain to the young people,” she said, “is an art form somewhat like rap, only it does not sell, and since the death of Lord Byron [in 1824] there has been a paucity of bling-bling.” At the risk of nudging you toward a cultural dead end, then, Virgo, I’ll ask you to expose yourself to concentrated doses of poetry this week. In my astrological opinion, you need to have your brain scrambled and heart flushed in a lyrically healing way, which good poetry can do. Here are some excellent sources: (1)James Broughton, (2) Mary Oliver, (3) Pablo Neruda, (4) Rainer Maria Rilke, (5) Daniel Ladinsky, (6) Lots of poets.

After spending a week in San Francisco for the AEJMC conference, I am finally back to the land of the living. Although I love the big city and everything it has to offer, I must say that it was nice to get home and hear the crickets singing in my yard and the wind blowing through the trees … if only it weren’t so blasted hot while enjoying such things.

Since returning home, I have been making a valiant effort to enjoy what is left of the Summer before the Fall semester onslaught of work, classes, and running the media lab begins. For me, this means hunkering down somewhere with air conditioning and working on websites, crafting projects, reading old J.D. Salinger books, spending time with long lost friends, and watching all of the movies that I missed during the school year. So far, it has proven to be a fruitful effort … many scarves and trivets have been knitted, countless beads have been strung, many movies have been checked off of the list, and I am well into my second reading of Frannie and Zooey, a book that is far more interesting than my fourteen year old mind could have known during its first reading. I suppose reading a book about a family wrought with tragedy is more freeing than sitting around worrying about your own family, equally engulfed with stories of love and loss. Sounds pretty ‘pure and complicated’ … just as Salinger let on.

With that in mind, I will set out to live a pure and simple life for the next two weeks as the Summer winds down. To do this, I will continue being a crafting goddess, will change authors once this book is through, and will head to Florida for a nice vacation with my husband and girl dog … and, in true Bright fashion, will return from that vacation the night before school starts with the road on my mind and not a care in the world.

Come Wednesday the 30th it will be back to that whole pure and complicated way of life again.

Well folks, we are officially 6 days from the San Francisco presentation for AEJMC and I am sitting in a coffee shop close to campus procrastinating some more on getting the final version of the presentation done. My favorite coffee place, i.e. the one I am sitting in, is located on the main street that runs alongside UT’s Western border so there is plenty of people watching and puffy white clouds to distract me from getting work done. Alas, the coffee is very strong and delicious so I should have some energy to get things done shortly.

In other news, Grace, Galit and I made a trip down to Barton Springs last night at 9 PM. Entry is free after 9 PM … the only disadvantage being there is no sun to warm you up after taking a dip in the frigid water (62 degrees year round!). The ladies brought swim caps and I laughed loudly as I watched them try to get situated. It was almost as humorous as listening to Grace quietly cuss in Portugese as she got into the water. And, of course, once we were all swimming, I proved to myself once and for all that there is nothing like taking a nice swim at night, in a completely spring fed pool with a view of the Austin skyline. Next time I will be testing by diving board skills … I’m hoping some of my old moves come back to me ;).

So, now I must go get to work and stop daydreaming about swimming and all things fabulous in San Francisco. This weekend brings a birthday party at my place, some time to get crafty, and the completion of the presentation. Oh my, it sounds like I am getting back to a normal life indeed!

On a somewhat breezy yet hot night in late July in Austin, I am writing from my new office setup at the house. It was a much needed change and I am quite content in my new, decidedly girly southern gothic surroundings. Much has happened since my last post … a cousin’s wedding, my grandmother’s funeral, a summer school stats class, the completion of two very long papers, several excellent concerts, countless dog walks, a few dips in Barton Springs, and many delicious meals. To say the least, it has been an interesting couple of months around the Bright family … here are a few things I have learned along the way:

1. When going on a family “vacation”, pack an extra since of humor … or two, or three … you will need to start unpacking them by day two.
2. There is something magical about a tumultous thunderstorm on a hot Summer day and I absolutely never tire of them.
3. If you’re having a bad day and all else fails, have a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich and a fizzy drink to make yourself feel better.
4. When reason doesn’t work, kill them with kindness.
5. The phrase ‘Life is for the living.’ is one of the most comforting things to think of when someone passes away.
6. Some mistakes are too fun to only make once.
7. Watching the World Cup with a Brazilian soccer fan is hilarious fun.
8. Sometimes the best thing to do is just sit back and watch your brain work out all of your fascinating contradactions and see what wins.
9. The only thing consistent in life is change so it is a good thing to know how to manage.
10. The Clash really is one of the best bands of all time.
11. And, last but not least: how to conduct experiments, analyze data, and interpret results for experiments containing more than 2 groups :).

So, we know for sure that Summer school paid off … as for the rest, we’ll just have to see. For now, I must prepare a presentation for a conference in San Francisco next week. Grace and I are presenting and my Mom is coming to join us so it should be a fabulous time. We’ll get to see Greg and Beth Anne, shop, eat good food, and drink wine … sounds like just what I need right now. To boot, my horoscope has advised that it’s high time for me to untame myself … (insert cat noise here) … woohoo!

Today was a typical Monday morning for me. I woke up, showered, took care of a few things on the computer and then got into the car to head up to campus at noon. Once I had embarked on my ride, I decided that Willie Nelson was the thing to listen to and tuned the iPod to his Willie and Family Live CD. The song ‘One Day at a Time’ came on as I cruised through the intersection at 2222 and Burnet and it was as though I was hearing it for the first time. This is ironic because this song was a staple of my childhood … if anything, you could always count on hearing Willie Nelson, Neil Diamond, Jimmy Buffet and ZZ Top on the stereo at our place. It was confusing because I know all of those songs better than I know most things in my life.

And then, it dawned on me. The song, albeit very simplistic, had taken on a new meaning for me and I had not heard it since then. Several months ago, when I was at my Mom’s house vacationing for a few days, we got into a long conversation about how stressed out I get and my general need to settle down and focus on getting through the PhD years. During this talk, my Mom fished her wallet out of her purse and pulled out a credit card sized card and handed it to me. It was a light yellow color and had a graphic printed on it that represented footprints in the sand. The card said ‘One Day at a Time’ on it and nothing else. She told me that years ago, after my Dad had died, my grandmother had given her the card to remind her that the best she could do was take it one day at a time and be thankful for that. She had carried the card in her wallet since then. The exchange snapped my perspective back into focus and made me realize that I can do all of this and should be thankful for each day that I get to continue to do what it is that I do. Of course, my cynical side makes that difficult on some days, but I do the best that I can.

For now, as I sit on my porch, staring down the next 16 days of school work and tedium, I can only laugh at myself and quote my favorite country western singer …

“I live one day at a time

And I dream one dream at a time

Yesterday is dead and tomorrow is blind

And I live one day at time …”

–Willie Nelson, ‘One Day at a Time’

Today in Austin it was 95 degrees and breezy which reminded me that we have definitely settled in to Spring in Central Texas. The streets are coated with mulberry pollen and everything seems to have come into bloom all at once. In fact, my strawberry plant is sporting two very red berries which generally doesn’t happen until sometime in June. I’ll be happy to eat the berries, but it makes me wonder what it’s going to be like outside when June rolls around this year? Alas, I digress …

Spring time in Austin always brings lots of beautiful flowers to look at in the parks and yards that extend through the several miles of road I walk on or take to and from work everyday. In particular, at the 45th and Guadalupe interchange, as you begin to head South along Guadalupe, there is a long row of rose bushes that bloom this time every year. The bushes are large and grow along a chain link fence that creates the barrier for the Texas State Mental Health Facility that takes up about 8 city blocks in the center of town. The facility itself is a conglomeration of structures built in what looks like the 1940s. Many are similar to old post offices or doctor’s offices - as you look at them you can easily imagine the terrazo-like floors, the musky air conditioning, and the unique smell that only years of exposure to Southern heat and humidity can get you. The roses, however, can’t help but make up for this in their extravagant shades of red, apricot, white, and pink. I bet everyone living in the facility looks forward to this time of year when they can stop and smell the roses.

Speaking of which, Spring also brings the arrival of music season, as I have come to call it. The nights are magnificent this time of year - the temperatures dip into the 60s and 70s and a light breeze keeps things fresh - making for nice surroundings when standing outside listening to music. This weekend will bring a trip to see Todd Snider, then on the 29th it will be Drive by Truckers. Later this Summer, Beck will be playing at The Backyard and then the Flaming Lips in September. I don’t think I’ve had a music season like this in almost a decade. Needless to say … I am looking forward to some good tunes and happy times. The rites of Spring are treating us right this year indeed!

For now, I will get into my car, roll the windows down and drive down to my favorite gelato place for something sweet. Because, after all, you can’t write a consumer behavior paper until you’ve had some cinnamon gelato and a coffee drink :).

That’s the rule for tonight, anyway.

Well folks, I am excited to report that today, after days of stressful anticipation, I met with my PhD Course Committee for the first time and was able to get my program of coursework approved without a hitch. This was exciting for several reasons, the most important being that my schedule is now set in stone and I will be done by the Summer of 2008. It seems like a long way off now, but in the grand scheme of things it is but a few months of what has come to be my late twenties. By the looks of it now, I will be Dr. Laura Bright before my 31st birthday. Woo-freaking-Hoo!!

On another exciting note, Grace received news that she will get the big doctoral fellowship from the Communications School to work on her dissertation next year. This means, among other things, that she can rest assured knowing that rent and bills will be paid as she writes, reads, and writes some more. It appears that the stars have aligned for the both of us on this 13th day of April, 2006.

For tonight, Grace and I will head up to my place for a nice dinner and bottle of wine to celebrate that things are great for today. Brian is cooking a nice piece of fish for us on his new grill. And, I’ll be pouring wine and listening to my favorite Willie Nelson CDs until I’ve turned in to a good hearted woman myself.

Well, it has come to be that time of the semester again where project deadlines are oppressively looming overhead and a beach vacation to Florida in May is the carrot dangling in front of me, coaxing me along the way toward my completion date of May 10th. Of course, it is not my ‘I’m done with school’ completion date, but it does mean that I am done with another semester of coursework and that is always a good thing.

This time of year always gets me to thinking about how I got through it the last time, how I can improve my process, and what shape I will be in when it is all done. As you can imagine, this reflection can be painful at times … remembering sleepless nights and the agony of never having enough time to get things perfect is never pleasant … but alas, that is what it takes sometimes to get things done. It makes the reward that much more fabulous in the end, right?

Of all of the things I remember most during these times, it is those ridiculous rants that I tend to go on to my husband, brother, best friends, etc. when I get totally stressed out about this academic life that I am pursuing. During a particularly fierce moment last December, as I was standing on the tallest soap box that I could find, my husband just looked at me, smiled and said … ‘Academia … isn’t that a parish in Louisiana?’. I laughed at him … and then at myself for a very long time.

So, with that thought in mind, I venture off to finish off another semester in the best way that I know how … sense of humor in check, loud music on the speakers, and visions of sparkling white sand and blue water on my mind. With any luck, I’ll be checking my brain at the Florida border come May 12th!

I woke up late Monday morning, after a long flight in from Reno, Nevada on Sunday night, thinking that I might have dreamt the last four days of my life. The smokey haze of the casino and constant ‘Ding Ding Ding’ of the slot machines has left me in a weird state. For the most part, the trip went well. The presentation went off without a hitch and we had 30 people in attendance which was a remarkable amount if you ask me ;). On the flip side of that, the mauve velvet bedspreads and room of mirrors that Grace, Katherine and I stayed in left much to be desired. I had Katherine photograph the railyard and scrap metal pile outside of our room … just in case any of us had any thoughts of ever returning to Reno again! For now, we have Burlington, Vermont to look forward to for next year’s AAA conference. In the meantime, I’ve got a few papers to get together.

If I’ve learned anything about casino towns it’s that no matter how much you win, you always leave with empty pockets.

And … a side note … who knew I was playing in Reno this weekend?

http://www.waldenscoffeehouse.com/performers-JKL-LauraBright.shtml

Well folks, tomorrow I head to Reno, Nevada for the American Academy of Advertising Conference where Grace and I will be presenting a paper. It is a presentation on racial portrayals in Brazilian advertising and has gone over well during our two practice rounds in front of faculty and students at UT. I’m looking forward to presenting on Friday and then enjoying a weekend in Reno!

For now, I am going to hit the sack since I have to be on a plane at 6 AM. I’ll post more from the conference …