The Summer of My Dis...sertation

So, now that school is out for summer, I am officially back to working on my dissertation full-time. It was slow going during the semester because it's hard to teach four courses (plus extracurricular projects), grade, and prep for the next day's classes.

In a nutshell, I was like this:

Thankfully, now I have a little time.

Meanwhile, my coworkers (especially Dr. Cofield) are like this:

I'm glad they don't dress up like the Cookie Monster...or hold me at gunpoint!

And this whole time, I've been thinking this:

I'm looking forward to getting back to work on my dissertation, and I really can't wait until I'm Dr. Bruce Finklea!

We're Shakin' Our Rumps...Again.

First of all, you can get your mind out of the gutter.

Jackie has signed us up to run the Rumpshaker 5K this year. (You may remember when we ran it a couple of years go.)

The race is on March 30, so we've got some time to get ready. But we haven't started our training yet. The hardest part is finding the motivation to go to the gym. Last time we ran the Rumpshaker, we went to the gym for a month solid before the race to train.

Every other day or so, one of us will look over at the other and say, "When are we going to start training for the marathon?" (We call it a marathon because sometimes thinking about it makes it seem like a marathon. Apologies to all you marathon runners out there...)

The problem with training is that I've had a total lack of motivation to hit the gym. The race is 3 days after my 28th birthday, and I'd really like to be in better shape by then. I mean, I know I can't lose a ton of weight between now and then, but I like to lose something and be stronger. I keep looking at old pictures for motivation to remind me of how skinny I used to be. They remind me of how I've transformed my body before. If I've done it once, I know that I can do it again.

But why can't I get motivated this time??? I feel like if I can figure that out, I'd be unstoppable. In the meantime, I hope our looming race day will begin to get me to drag my butt to the gym in my free time (you know, the few seconds I have between class, prepping for class, dissertation work...).

Welcome to Book Heaven

Welcome to Book Heaven

I love books. I've been an avid reader since I was little because my parents instilled a love for the written word in me at a young age. Being a book lover, I also love places where there are a lot of books... and that is one of the reasons that I love going to 2nd & Charles in Hoover.

It is like pre-read book Heaven! (I think "pre-read" sounds better than "used book.") There are rows and rows and rows of shelves packed with books. It's hit or miss what you'll find, but sometimes you might just stumble across a diamond in the rough.

This was the Star Trek section on my 1st 2nd&C visit. Nerd Nirvana!

I love their Star Trek section because, lets face it, if I can combine my love of books with my love of Star Trek, I'm going to think it's awesome!! The section used to be ginormous, but they've shrunk it down recently. (I'm hoping those books found good homes, and that they didn't just purge the non-sellers!) There are a bunch of older books that aren't available in e-format and that you just can't find at the bookstore.

And the best part is the price. Most of them are under $3! I could buy them all...but Jackie would kill me I don't have enough bookshelves.

Here's one of the Animorphs books.

So where do they get all of these books? You can sell them your pre-read books! (You can also cash in on old electronics, video games, records, and movies.) I found a box of old books that I had in middle school, so I took them up there Friday. The books were the Animorph series. (It was about a bunch of teenagers that get the ability to morph into any animal that they touch... and they fought aliens.) I had more than 40 of the books!

When you take your items in to sell, they give you a number and you have to wait while they evaluate what you brought in. Then, when your number pops up on the screen, they'll tell you how much they'll give you and if there were any books that they wouldn't take. The girl at the counter said they could give me $16 and some change if I wanted the cash, but if I wanted store credit, I'd get almost $29! Hello, store credit!

I'm sure you're asking yourself how Jackie and I spent our windfall. Well, I picked a Star Trek book (just 1) and 2 Hallmark Christmas ornaments that were on clearance for $1 (they are never that cheap--NEVER! My Hallmark Christmas ornament obsession is worthy of its own blog post. Maybe next Christmas, since I've already packed them away this year.) Jackie wanted to get some Golden Books. Even though we don't have kids (or any on the way), we want to go ahead and start building a library for any Future Finkleas that may come along. We picked out a ton of Golden Books that were in great condition. (Some had never been opened; you could tell because the spines were so stiff.) Jackie keeps a list of our growing library in her phone so we don't buy the same book twice.

Even with all of our books and my 2 ornaments, we only spent $24. (That means I've still got a little store credit left so I can buy more Star Trek books to buy Golden Books with.)

On our way back to the car, we stopped by the free bins outside. (Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention that there are free books in bins on the sidewalk outside! Free, I tell you! Free!) We dropped in a few random books that we had that we tried to sell with my impressive Animorphs collection, and we poked around to see if there were any good books that the book vultures (I've had people wait and watch me unload books from my car; they were old text books from our department) hadn't picked over already. And there, in all of its current-news-cycle relevancy, was a sad, sad book looking up at me:

Sorry, Lance.

Ever since my co-authored text book went on sale last year, I've wondered what it must be like for an author to see their book in the bargain bin at Walmart...but to be in the free bin on the sidewalk outside of a pre-read book store--that was a low I never imagined.

So, dear readers, if you're ever at the 2nd and Charles in Hoover and you see a copy of Fundamentals of Media Effects (2nd edition) in the free book bin, please pick it up and take it home. Spare me the pain of seeing it myself. (Of course, if you do find a copy, be sure to read the last four chapters. They're the ones I wrote all by myself. You'll love them!) If you would like to own your own copy of our book (and you can't find one in the free bin) you can purchase it online: click here! As of this writing, Amazon says it has 3 left in stock--and you can get it gift wrapped! ;)

What great books have you read lately, readers? Hit the comments to let me know!

Illumination Transformations with the Unhandy Husband

Ever since Jackie and I moved into our new house last March, the Unhandy Husband has been able to relax.

Although we've loved our house from the moment we stepped inside, we were not in love with the lighting over our bar and over the dining room. We jokingly referred to them as "Pizza Hut lights."

The Pizza Hut light in all its glory.

One of the baby Pizza Hut pendants

They were awful...and entirely not our taste. So we set out to change them.

Several months ago, Jackie declared, "We're going to Lowe's." We went and finally found some pendant shades that we liked. It was an easy swap out for the Unhandy Husband to undertake.

New pendant shades

You can sort of see the detail on the shade in this picture

Much better than the Pizza Hut lights!

We were really happy with the new pendants. The baby Pizza Hut lights were banished to storage in the garage.

Apparently, the Unhandy Husband went back into hiding after the mini-Pizza Hut swap out because the big light didn't get changed for a while longer. It wasn't until Jackie and I were hosting a Christmas movie marathon for our friends that we agreed it was time for the big light to finally hit the road.

We had taken the light that we'd installed in the trailer with us when we left, and it had been sitting in a laundry basket on top of our spare fridge in the garage since we moved in. Buoyed by my success of illumination transformations in the trailer and the mini-Pizza Hut light swap out, I told her it would take 10 minutes to do.

This is where the Unhandy Husband jinxed himself.

We wanted to use the ceiling mount part (I don't know the real name for this part) so that it would match the pendants. However, that ended up causing us to have to cobble together bits and pieces of both the old and new lights to make it possible to hang the new light. I kinda felt like Dr. Frankenstein mixing and matching parts.

However, about an hour later, we got everything wired up and working.

Here's the new light. So much better!

That part up by the ceiling is what turned a 10 minute job into an hour of frustration. But it looks great!

And we love it! I wish we'd done it months ago!

We Wish You A Merry Christmas!

I can't believe that it is already Christmas Eve! This month has flown by!

Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays, and I'll admit, I love Christmas decorations! (I'm pretty sure I get that from my paternal grandmother. Gran Gran loved decorating for the holidays!)

Anyway, this is our first Christmas in our new house, and Jackie has done such a wonderful job decorating. I thought I'd take a little time to show off her hard work.

Let's start in the yard...

We both love Christmas Vacation, and we certainly tried to channel our inner Griswold when we decorated the house. Unlike Clark Griswold, I have a paralyzing fear of heights. That meant I would only go so far up the ladder, but I still think it turned our great.

To make the little Christmas trees, we borrowed some tomato cages from my Mom. We wrapped 2 strands of lights on each, and staked them into the ground.

We also overestimated how many lights we'd need, so Jackie said, "Let's decorate the ground!"

I was skeptical at first, but I think it turned out great! We are one of the brightest houses in our neighborhood!

We're already coming up with decorating plans for next year, and my friend Keith has said he'll help do the roof. Christmas 2013 will blow your mind!

Moving to the front door, you'll see our snowman face that I saw at Homestead Hollow's October show. I fell in love with it, and was able to convince Jackie that I had to have it for our house. Luckily, she agreed! I also love that the woman at the booth understands the proper use of the apostrophe and knew not to include it.

This is our entryway table. We've collected these decorations at a bunch of different places, and we love it! The Nativity is the most recent addition. We scored it at Hobby Lobby the other day, and it was 50% off! (Of course, most of the store is 50% off at any point in time...not that I'm complaining!)

To display our Christmas cards, Jackie made this Pinterest-inspired card tree out of yard sticks and miniature clothespins. I love it! The only problem is that we underestimated how many cards we'd receive...

So the newest ones are now taped to the bar.

I'm really loving our hearth. Jackie did a fantastic job! We had the Grinch window painted by one of our craft show neighbors. The vine tree and balls were made by our crafting friends Cliff and Elizabeth. The wooden deer was also a Homestead Hollow find. The big Santa hat was a recent find at Hobby Lobby. I loved it at first sight. I'm so glad Jackie let me get it!

Here's a view of our tree, Grinch, and leg lamp! Love it!

 Jackie surprised me with the leg lamp a couple of weeks ago. Watching A Christmas Story has been a Finklea family tradition for years. And who can resist the soft glow of electric sex in the window?

 Our Grinch was made by our craft show friends Bobby and Wanda. Mom had one for several years, and after Jackie and I got married, I wanted to get one of my own. Everyone that has come to the house love it!

 Next up is the tree. I have a thing for Christmas tree ornaments, and many of ours are Hallmark's Star Trek ornaments, but there's also a bunch of Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story ones. There's also a ton of other pop culture ornaments. I absolutely love our tree!

 Here are some of the new additions this year. First up is the house from A Christmas Story. It lights up and talks!

 We got this ornament to ornament when we were in New York back in March. I love this little reminder of a wonderful trip!

 We got this one to commemorate our first Christmas in our new house. This ornament is a reminder of God's faithfulness. The second year of our marriage was very difficult, but the Lord had a plan for us. He blessed us with a beautiful home that has been a wonderful place for us to gather with our loved ones.

Jackie and I also made some Christmas cookies. These are just a few of all of the ones we made. Lesson learned: don't quit my day job to become a cookie decorator.

Jackie and I hope you have a very Merry Christmas to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior! Surround yourself with loved ones, lots of laughter, and good food.

Merry Christmas from the Finkleas!

Fall 2012 Photo Shoot

I'm still trying to get back in the swing of blogging more than just once every few months. I really do want to be a better blogger. Honest.

Anyway, Jackie and I had some pictures taken Sunday. Other than our church directory photos, we haven't had any nice pictures taken of us since our wedding. Jackie's cousin Haley is a great photographer, and we went to the University of Montevallo for the shoot.

For November, it was a warm day, but Jackie was determined to wear her sweater. I also wore my fleece vest, but it certainly wasn't needed. I was just hoping that I didn't break a sweat.

Here are some of my favorites. I hope you enjoy!

Field Trip to FOX 6 WBRC and UM Update

This week I took my TV newscast production class for a tour of FOX 6's station in Birmingham. We have a couple of alums from our program working there, and one of them reached out to me about the opportunity for a tour.

I also invited our video engineering class, which is taught by Dr. John Hoerner, to come along.

Melynda, the alum that contacted me about the tour, works there as a web producer. She gave us a tour of what will be their new newsroom. (It's just a big empty room right now.) We also got to see their temporary digs in the sales department, which is doubling as a newsroom space.

We also got to tour their studio, which was renovated in recent years with the transition to HD. Mickey Ferguson, the morning meteorologist, is also a UM Mass Comm alum. He took time to speak to the students, and he even put us on TV during their noon show!

Mickey Ferguson (far left) posing with our Mass Comm students

Dr. Hoerner was also able to talk with some folks about some internship possibilities for our students in coming semesters. We also got to go out behind the station to look at their news vehicles and stand under the iconic WBRC sign that overlooks downtown Birmingham.

The tour was a lot of fun, and the students really enjoyed getting to see how the professionals do it!

Picture from last year's field trip.

And I must admit, it did feel a little strange to go to FOX 6. As many of you know, I used to work at NBC 13, which is right next door. Kinda made me feel like I was cheating on my 13 family, but to be fair, I did take my class there last year. Remember this -->?

Meanwhile, back on campus... we've been really busy with Falcon Fever and Falcon Weekly. Both shows have really been coming along great this semester. I'm so proud of all of our students. They work so hard, and I hope their hard work is paying off.

Here are some pictures from the studio from the past several weeks.

Kasey and Michael on the set for Falcon Fever.

Bird's eye view of the studio

Coleman and Sarah on set for Falcon Weekly, the campus newscast

Jolyn demonstrating how keywall works.