I borrowed my title from Emily : P
I woke up at 8 AM today, again. This time I found out what woke me up! It's the garbage trucks. I looked out the window to see what the weather was like, and as soon as I saw them, I could hear them too. Clearly my unconscious hearing is better than my conscious hearing. Now that I know they are garbage trucks and not some beastie coming to eat me, maybe I'll sleep uninterrupted past 8 tomorrow.
First class today was Versions of Modernity, in which we talked about Mrs. Dalloway. There is a scary girl in that class, very argumentative, always has something to say about everything. She got a bit out of hand today, but Clare, the tutor, handled it really well I thought... the girl was going off on a tangent about how Virginia Woolf isn't brilliant because she can write long sentences: any German could do that, and if she (the student) handed in an essay written like Virginia Woolf wrote Mrs. Dalloway, no one would call HER (the student) brilliant. I think someone's bitter about an essay grade... anyway it was really annoying.
Back to the dorm for a nap. I don't nap very well here for some reason, but it was nice to be under the blankets with my eyes closed, anyway.
Next was Early Modern Culture. No one read the reading for today except me. So the prof asked me to tell the class the story in the last half hour of class, but he kept interrupting to talk about certain points so class went over. In fairness, he was also interrupting because I was glossing over the gross and violent bits, and that was what he wanted to talk about : P
Back to the dorm for some school reading and a teeny amount of writing. Dinner company was good today - Phil and Sam. We decided to organize a flat trip to the local roller-rink, which should be really fun, especially since i'm pretty sure I'm not the most uncoordinated person in the group : )
I got an e-mail from Assistant Director Conrad-Salvo, who is in charge of reading applications for the tutoring practicum next semester. I had applied for 390A, which would lead to me tutoring 306. In her email, the assistant director asked if I'd consider applying for 390B instead, since I am a professional writing major. The difference is that after taking 390B I'd be helping students with business documents, such as resumes and cover letters instead of introductory composition. Now, this is a dilemma. It seems that I would have an advantage applying for 390B since I was specifically asked to. But, on the other hand, I am far better at general composition than I am at resumes... what to do. I had better decide soon.
Now I intend to sit down and really do some writing... Tomorrow: Myth!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
packagepackagepackage
For some reason this morning I woke up around 8 AM. There was no noise in the hall and I didn't have a class til 2... the only thing I can think is that the sun woke me up, because it was a surprisingly cloudless day today, and my curtains really do nothing to keep the light out.
Well anyway, I went back to sleep. When I did wake up I ate a tiny lunch and began the reading for tomorrow. I was surprised by its length... so far for Early Modern Culture we have only had excerpts, nothing I couldn't finish in a night. This time we had a 68-page (that's English printer pages - larger than 8.5x11) travel journal, written in 1590-something. It was rather boring, and, I am inclined to believe, 60% or more made-up. I read 29 pages of it before I had to go to class, determining to print the rest out because I couldn't handle staring at the screen that long at a solid block of text (paragraphs hadn't been invented when this was written I guess). Right before I left, I checked my email, and lo! My package had arrived!! Excitement.
I went to class and discovered that I had done the reading for next week by mistake. Ah, but it's Oulipo, which really means randomness, so no one could tell and now I'm done for next week.
Sebastian actually showed up for class today and we parcelled out bits of the presentation so that we won't actually have to meet again until the day we present in class. Yay.
After class, I went and printed out the rest of the boring travel journal. Then I went and joined the sports federation and archery club... then I went to get my package!
Contained therein were my workout pants (just in time for Lent), fuzzy toe-warming socks, a spare cell phone battery, clothesline, a booklight (thank goodness!!), a back-up booklight (that is to say, string), and a lot of food... oh yes, various tasty American goodies... on Ash Wednesday. Quite the trial. Tomorrow, I will get fat.
Ash Wednesday Mass was tonight at 6, which was weird because I'm used to going in the morning and having ashes all day. Good thing it was this late though, because man, they are serious about their ashes around here. Rather than just having the ashes in a somewhat indistinct smear across the forehead, they mix the ashes with holy water, making them into a black paste, with which they draw a cross identifiable from rather a distance. It was interesting explaining the meaning of the big black cross on my forehead to my flatmates when I got back to the dorm for dinner. I mentioned something about England being mostly Anglican, and was quickly corrected. England is mostly atheist. Well, at least they are the nice sort of atheist and not the militant kind.
After a small dinner I took a shower... goodbye ashes after only about two hours... Then I sat down to try to read the rest of the boring travel journal. There really was far too much, so I just skimmed for the interesting bits, and was done rather quickly.
Tomorrow is an early class and some yummy American candy : )
The end.
Well anyway, I went back to sleep. When I did wake up I ate a tiny lunch and began the reading for tomorrow. I was surprised by its length... so far for Early Modern Culture we have only had excerpts, nothing I couldn't finish in a night. This time we had a 68-page (that's English printer pages - larger than 8.5x11) travel journal, written in 1590-something. It was rather boring, and, I am inclined to believe, 60% or more made-up. I read 29 pages of it before I had to go to class, determining to print the rest out because I couldn't handle staring at the screen that long at a solid block of text (paragraphs hadn't been invented when this was written I guess). Right before I left, I checked my email, and lo! My package had arrived!! Excitement.
I went to class and discovered that I had done the reading for next week by mistake. Ah, but it's Oulipo, which really means randomness, so no one could tell and now I'm done for next week.
Sebastian actually showed up for class today and we parcelled out bits of the presentation so that we won't actually have to meet again until the day we present in class. Yay.
After class, I went and printed out the rest of the boring travel journal. Then I went and joined the sports federation and archery club... then I went to get my package!
Contained therein were my workout pants (just in time for Lent), fuzzy toe-warming socks, a spare cell phone battery, clothesline, a booklight (thank goodness!!), a back-up booklight (that is to say, string), and a lot of food... oh yes, various tasty American goodies... on Ash Wednesday. Quite the trial. Tomorrow, I will get fat.
Ash Wednesday Mass was tonight at 6, which was weird because I'm used to going in the morning and having ashes all day. Good thing it was this late though, because man, they are serious about their ashes around here. Rather than just having the ashes in a somewhat indistinct smear across the forehead, they mix the ashes with holy water, making them into a black paste, with which they draw a cross identifiable from rather a distance. It was interesting explaining the meaning of the big black cross on my forehead to my flatmates when I got back to the dorm for dinner. I mentioned something about England being mostly Anglican, and was quickly corrected. England is mostly atheist. Well, at least they are the nice sort of atheist and not the militant kind.
After a small dinner I took a shower... goodbye ashes after only about two hours... Then I sat down to try to read the rest of the boring travel journal. There really was far too much, so I just skimmed for the interesting bits, and was done rather quickly.
Tomorrow is an early class and some yummy American candy : )
The end.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
I'm so stuffy give me a scone ^.^
Yay for Tuesdays! One of these Tuesdays I'm gonna sleep in so late that the noon fire alarm test wakes me up. On that day I will likely be grouchy. Today was not that day.
Today I woke up and finished my essay! I am 100 words above the minimum. Yay me! And I know a lot more about Irish faerie folk than I did before, which I guess is always good. So I skipped lunch to finish this paper since I was on a roll. Then I decided that since it's Fat Tuesday, I deserve a pastry. So I went out to campus to get one. It was surprisingly warm outside, despite the gusting wind, so I didn't have to wear my hat. In fact... warm day, strong wind... oh yes, billowing about campus like a specter of the darkness in men's hearts, I descended upon the cafe.
But first... remember me saying how the Ents wall was sort of depressing with nothing on it?....
I guess all I had to do was mention it : P
So anyway, I went to Cafe Vert, and they have this afternoon special where you can get a pot of tea and a scone with jam and clotted cream for 1.75, which I thought was a good deal, so I did. The tea was really good - English style with milk. The scone was also tasty, and clotted cream, though it sounds disgusting, is actually really good. Altogether, a most satisfactory snack.
I went to sign up for a London trip this Sunday after that. For 16 pounds I got transport into London as well as a day pass for the tube and the busses. Excellent. The trip is to go celebrate Chinese New Year, and I think I will be meeting Lisa there so that I won't be wandering around alone : P
Next was a stop at the Computer desk to find out how to change my comp to play region two dvds... Star Wars, here I come. I was gonna print off my syllabi while I was at it, but the lab was too full and I didn't feel like finding another.
Then I headed across the square to ask the Post Office about box sizes, and the lady there had no clue, so she told me to come back in an hour. So then I had to kill an hour. I went over to the bank to see if I could get cash without using the ATM, and therefore without a charge. I cannot. I am going to have to get some more cash before London though. Then I puttered about the bookstore for a bit, then wandered over to the lit lounge to do some reading. After an hour I went back to the post office and asked about the size of packages and found out that it does not matter, as long as I can carry it down there. Cool.
I went back to the dorm to do some more reading and some chatting, and went out again later to get a good dinner in preparation for fasting tomorrow. I can't believe tomorrow's the first day of Lent already. I plan to exercise daily, and wear my retainers every night, and give up cracking my knuckles. This is ambitious, but is definitely for the good.
Tomorrow there's an Ash Wednesday Mass at 6. Other than that, just one class. I plan to spend the rest of the day writing... we'll see if that actually happens : P
Monday, February 4, 2008
In which two of the mysteries of Essex are revealed.
I meant to post this a few hours ago. Seriously. I keep forgetting what I'm doing.
Today was my two-lectures-in-a-row day. Myth class was entertaining as usual. At the end of class we watched scenes from an Italian opera, Le Orfeo I believe, or possibly La. It was interesting because the producers found the stage directions and machinery from the original production, way back in the 1500s or something, and they reproduced it exactly. Even the orchestra was wearing period dress (if you just thought "Even the orchestra... is beautiful", props to you. Hee. Props. And I'm talking about theatre. Ok, sorry, back to your regularly scheduled blog.). Anyway, they really do pick the actors based on voice. My goodness. Orpheus was... pudgy. Not overweight, just... soft. Ah well. It was pretty neat anyway. And in the first scene, they are celebrating the marriage of Orpheus and Eurydice, and the two actors walk on stage, and they're holding hands, but they just look... wooden. And miserable. Yeah, good voices though.
Anyway, the next lecture was the one for which I had stayed up reading Mrs. Dalloway last night. The lecturer though, simply gave us a biography of Virginia Woolf and did not talk about Mrs. Dalloway at all. At the end of lecture we watched the beginning of the movie Mrs Dalloway, which I felt utterly failed to capture the essence of the book, but then, it was only the first ten minutes.
After lecture, I was very tired, so I grabbed a stuffed croissant on the way back to the room and ate it on the way so that I could nap immediately upon returning. I also didn't want to face the kitchen just yet. After a rather ambiguous nap, I got up, did some reading, some writing, and then remembered that I probably had actual school work to do. I picked up Life: A User's Manual and began wading through it. It's quite an entertaining book, in fact, but very very long and the rest of the class read it last semester. I am just trying to catch up.
After, and meanwhile, I had a rather amusing chat with Emily about D&D, among other things, and this is where I stand now.
Oh, also, I have discovered, I believe, why everyone calls Chris "Manbeast". His last name is Manby. That explains so much. I don't think there was ever a guy who the word "manbeast" described less. Chris is a very polite, softspoken, stuttering politics major who writes fantasy on the side... manbeast indeed.
Also cleared up is the mysterious "Ents" sign, reproduced here for those of you who do not recall:
It is apparantly short for "Entertainment". A little anticlimactic, I thought, and certainly depressing for there are no advertisements for entertainment adorning this wall, though the sign itself certainly entertained me for a while...
Anyway, I shall now continue reading my user's manual. Tomorrow is fat Tuesday! eat a donut for me : )
Today was my two-lectures-in-a-row day. Myth class was entertaining as usual. At the end of class we watched scenes from an Italian opera, Le Orfeo I believe, or possibly La. It was interesting because the producers found the stage directions and machinery from the original production, way back in the 1500s or something, and they reproduced it exactly. Even the orchestra was wearing period dress (if you just thought "Even the orchestra... is beautiful", props to you. Hee. Props. And I'm talking about theatre. Ok, sorry, back to your regularly scheduled blog.). Anyway, they really do pick the actors based on voice. My goodness. Orpheus was... pudgy. Not overweight, just... soft. Ah well. It was pretty neat anyway. And in the first scene, they are celebrating the marriage of Orpheus and Eurydice, and the two actors walk on stage, and they're holding hands, but they just look... wooden. And miserable. Yeah, good voices though.
Anyway, the next lecture was the one for which I had stayed up reading Mrs. Dalloway last night. The lecturer though, simply gave us a biography of Virginia Woolf and did not talk about Mrs. Dalloway at all. At the end of lecture we watched the beginning of the movie Mrs Dalloway, which I felt utterly failed to capture the essence of the book, but then, it was only the first ten minutes.
After lecture, I was very tired, so I grabbed a stuffed croissant on the way back to the room and ate it on the way so that I could nap immediately upon returning. I also didn't want to face the kitchen just yet. After a rather ambiguous nap, I got up, did some reading, some writing, and then remembered that I probably had actual school work to do. I picked up Life: A User's Manual and began wading through it. It's quite an entertaining book, in fact, but very very long and the rest of the class read it last semester. I am just trying to catch up.
After, and meanwhile, I had a rather amusing chat with Emily about D&D, among other things, and this is where I stand now.
Oh, also, I have discovered, I believe, why everyone calls Chris "Manbeast". His last name is Manby. That explains so much. I don't think there was ever a guy who the word "manbeast" described less. Chris is a very polite, softspoken, stuttering politics major who writes fantasy on the side... manbeast indeed.
Also cleared up is the mysterious "Ents" sign, reproduced here for those of you who do not recall:
It is apparantly short for "Entertainment". A little anticlimactic, I thought, and certainly depressing for there are no advertisements for entertainment adorning this wall, though the sign itself certainly entertained me for a while...
Anyway, I shall now continue reading my user's manual. Tomorrow is fat Tuesday! eat a donut for me : )
Ah, late
Well this post is a bit late... technically this is February 4th. But oh well, I am still awake.
Started the day off with church, only Father Martin was called suddenly away to Ireland to attend upon his dying uncle. Before he left, he consecrated the hosts and left them for the congregation, so we had a "Eucharistic Service" instead. Sister something (I can't remember her name... but she is basically the altar and rosary society hereabouts) asked me to read the Gospel, which was awesome because I've always wanted to read the Gospel (seriously, the Gospel readings are generally much more interesting than the first and second readings). The service was considerably shorter than Mass. And there was a cellist who played beautifully.
I stopped at the campus shop after mass, hoping to find some fruit based candy to aid my essay writing, but alas, I was unsuccessful (ie, no jellybeans). I bought bananas instead. Probably better than fruit candy.
I went back to the dorm for lunch. The kitchen was a mess. Actually, it's still a mess. The cleaning crew doesn't come in on weekends, so the Heathens just leave everything for two days. The floors, counters, sinks, and dishes are encrusted with old food. The garbage is overflowing (anyone could take it out... I did not because it smells suspicious and looks moist and at this point removing it with anything but the utmost caution would probably do more harm than good). I couldn't wash a dish if I used one because the sinks are so full, and the dishes in them are too disgusting for me to want to touch to move them. I threw together a quick sandwich and ate it in my room.
Then I sat down to work on my essay. This one is really not coming together as easily as the last one. It's still not finished. I will do that Tuesday. I worked on the essay until it was time for archery.
Chris went with me, and we're both thinking of joining. There were a lot of people at this session, so there was a lot of standing around waiting for your turn. But the company was good. I met Mohammed from Pakistan and a Syrian whose name I cannot now recall.
The bows the club uses are definitely heavier and longer than what I'm used to, but I shot well enough with them. I hit the target every time, though only two bull's eyes. After the session I came back fully intending to finish my essay, but glancing at the lecture program for tomorrow, realized I was supposed to read Mrs Dalloway.
So I did that.
All in one sitting.
So basically, I'm awesome.
And now I'm going to bed. Good night.
Started the day off with church, only Father Martin was called suddenly away to Ireland to attend upon his dying uncle. Before he left, he consecrated the hosts and left them for the congregation, so we had a "Eucharistic Service" instead. Sister something (I can't remember her name... but she is basically the altar and rosary society hereabouts) asked me to read the Gospel, which was awesome because I've always wanted to read the Gospel (seriously, the Gospel readings are generally much more interesting than the first and second readings). The service was considerably shorter than Mass. And there was a cellist who played beautifully.
I stopped at the campus shop after mass, hoping to find some fruit based candy to aid my essay writing, but alas, I was unsuccessful (ie, no jellybeans). I bought bananas instead. Probably better than fruit candy.
I went back to the dorm for lunch. The kitchen was a mess. Actually, it's still a mess. The cleaning crew doesn't come in on weekends, so the Heathens just leave everything for two days. The floors, counters, sinks, and dishes are encrusted with old food. The garbage is overflowing (anyone could take it out... I did not because it smells suspicious and looks moist and at this point removing it with anything but the utmost caution would probably do more harm than good). I couldn't wash a dish if I used one because the sinks are so full, and the dishes in them are too disgusting for me to want to touch to move them. I threw together a quick sandwich and ate it in my room.
Then I sat down to work on my essay. This one is really not coming together as easily as the last one. It's still not finished. I will do that Tuesday. I worked on the essay until it was time for archery.
Chris went with me, and we're both thinking of joining. There were a lot of people at this session, so there was a lot of standing around waiting for your turn. But the company was good. I met Mohammed from Pakistan and a Syrian whose name I cannot now recall.
The bows the club uses are definitely heavier and longer than what I'm used to, but I shot well enough with them. I hit the target every time, though only two bull's eyes. After the session I came back fully intending to finish my essay, but glancing at the lecture program for tomorrow, realized I was supposed to read Mrs Dalloway.
So I did that.
All in one sitting.
So basically, I'm awesome.
And now I'm going to bed. Good night.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Nothing to talk about today...
But I'm gonna post anyway.
Grocery shopping. I've been getting really lucky with the weather, and that luck held today. It was a little chillier than usual, but the hike warmed me up. I found pretzels! I bought the last two bags : P
I meant to sit down and get my research done when I got back, but that... just didn't happen. I did a little. I wasn't feeling very well though and was having trouble focusing. That's right, Yeat's poetry literally makes me sick. I read a novel instead and spent hours on end just thinking. It was really nice. Of course that means tomorrow I must do the research between church and archery, but hopefully I will be feeling more focused then. I'm pretty excited about the archery. I think the chances of meeting lots of poeple who are into fantasy are high. What does one wear to go arching, anyway? All I've got are jeans, so it'll have to be that... glad I bought a pair of extra big ones.
Annnd now I'm writing, but for fun, not my essay. Shame on me. Also, what the heck is Kerial's last name? Curses.
Grocery shopping. I've been getting really lucky with the weather, and that luck held today. It was a little chillier than usual, but the hike warmed me up. I found pretzels! I bought the last two bags : P
I meant to sit down and get my research done when I got back, but that... just didn't happen. I did a little. I wasn't feeling very well though and was having trouble focusing. That's right, Yeat's poetry literally makes me sick. I read a novel instead and spent hours on end just thinking. It was really nice. Of course that means tomorrow I must do the research between church and archery, but hopefully I will be feeling more focused then. I'm pretty excited about the archery. I think the chances of meeting lots of poeple who are into fantasy are high. What does one wear to go arching, anyway? All I've got are jeans, so it'll have to be that... glad I bought a pair of extra big ones.
Annnd now I'm writing, but for fun, not my essay. Shame on me. Also, what the heck is Kerial's last name? Curses.
Friday, February 1, 2008
No one ever mentioned wind!
Everyone warns you about the rain. No one mentions the wind. It was another extremely blustery day today. I did not wear my hat because I literally don't know where it's been... so I walked to class hatless.
Class was... class. Eight people showed up for myth seminar this time. The professor said "Ah, class is almost worth having now." He lectured for an hour and a half anyway, and I got to talk about Heart of Darkness, which none of the Brits had read, and I was also exempted from knowing the significance of Britain's national anthem. Good for me. Go America.
I ate the last of the bread for lunch as part of a turkey sandwich. I really need to go grocery shopping. I did laundry too, even though I really really really didn't want to lug my laundry all the way down to the laundry room in this wind. But I wanted to wash my hat. So I did it anyway. After laundry I revised my Early Modern Culture Essay, then went to the library to check out some books for my next essay on Yeats, which I will start tomorrow because thinking is making me tired. Just looking at essays'll do that to you I guess.
Today I realized to my chagrin that I had only brought one movie with me - Constantine. A decent movie, but I watched it not too long ago. I don't know if my computer can play Region 2 DVDs but if it can, it might be worth checking one out from the library (these are my Feb. 14th plans by the way - a movie and probably some ice cream. It's traditional.) despite their weird dvd check out policies. You're only alllowed to check out a dvd for four hours at a time, but if you check it out within four hours of the library closing you can keep it over night, but you have to return it by ten AM the next morning. But you can also renew it so... whatever? Anyway I've got this sudden urge to watch Star Wars. Weird.
Lisa and I have booked our flights to Rome! We have also picked out a hostel, so we are pretty much ready to go : P
Ok that's all I've got.
Class was... class. Eight people showed up for myth seminar this time. The professor said "Ah, class is almost worth having now." He lectured for an hour and a half anyway, and I got to talk about Heart of Darkness, which none of the Brits had read, and I was also exempted from knowing the significance of Britain's national anthem. Good for me. Go America.
I ate the last of the bread for lunch as part of a turkey sandwich. I really need to go grocery shopping. I did laundry too, even though I really really really didn't want to lug my laundry all the way down to the laundry room in this wind. But I wanted to wash my hat. So I did it anyway. After laundry I revised my Early Modern Culture Essay, then went to the library to check out some books for my next essay on Yeats, which I will start tomorrow because thinking is making me tired. Just looking at essays'll do that to you I guess.
Today I realized to my chagrin that I had only brought one movie with me - Constantine. A decent movie, but I watched it not too long ago. I don't know if my computer can play Region 2 DVDs but if it can, it might be worth checking one out from the library (these are my Feb. 14th plans by the way - a movie and probably some ice cream. It's traditional.) despite their weird dvd check out policies. You're only alllowed to check out a dvd for four hours at a time, but if you check it out within four hours of the library closing you can keep it over night, but you have to return it by ten AM the next morning. But you can also renew it so... whatever? Anyway I've got this sudden urge to watch Star Wars. Weird.
Lisa and I have booked our flights to Rome! We have also picked out a hostel, so we are pretty much ready to go : P
Ok that's all I've got.
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