The Hungry Moga: I Have a Crush on the Internet

Is there a perfect science for writing a non-awkward e-mail? I feel like this is a skill I should have mastered over the years given all the requests I've had to make of professors and co-workers, but this whole project never fails to stymie me with every overly polite, flowery intro sentence I write. I generally default to the Japanese method of "hey I'm going to talk about the weather for a minute" to start my e-mails, but it seriously sounds weird in English. I just can never figure out what else to say. And even though I know the professors I am e-mailing for rec letters remember me, there's a part of me that feels presumptuous in assuming familiarity. In any case, my requests are out and it seems like this whole Ph.D. application thing is getting off the ground.

The really good news I got the other day is that my advisor is very excited about my statement of purpose. Considering how she ripped it apart more than once, I felt like I was never going to get it right, but now I have a serviceable draft that just needs a little polishing. This is the one thing I have been avoiding in this whole process, and now that it's done several weeks early, I could just... I could just...

SIIIIIIING

I've been fighting with myself a lot for a number of reasons outside of just applications, so this is very welcome news. There are a lot of other little things I need to get in order (like paying an arm and a leg in sending out transcripts, GRE scores, and application fees... it's ridiculous), but that statement of purpose was the thing I procrastinated on the first time I applied to grad school, and it led to a lot of sleepless nights. I also have to wonder if it didn't damage my prospects with a couple of the schools I applied to. So when I opened my inbox to see my advisor's e-mail, it felt like walking into a room and seeing this:

God I love that show. I have also had a ridiculous amount of time to catch-up on my favorite shows, including the above, Modern Family, and Community. And speaking of Community, I finally saw the episode where Jeff Winger plays naked pool and boy did that ever make today even better:

Aye aye, that's the stuff. Should this post have come with a NSFW tag? Oh well.

And just so that this post ceases to make any sense whatsoever, here are some cute animal photos: