Oh, sweet Jesus. One of my students recommended a "study aid" called No-Fear Shakespeare to the class. It's a sort of facing-page "translation" of Shakespeare into modern English. (Yes, I know Shakespeare is already in modern English.) I said very quickly that I didn't endorse the recommendation, but I felt like I owed them a fuller explanation of why not, so I've been poking around on the NFS web site for examples of lines that lose a great deal in translation. For your delectation, here are some of my favorites so far.
How now, my lord of Worcester?
"Hello there, my lord of Worcester!"
And when I told thee he was of my counsel
Of my whole course of wooing, thou cried’st “Indeed?”
"And when I told you he was involved the whole time I was trying to get Desdemona, you were like, 'Oh, really?'"
The Myrmidons are no bottle-ale houses.
"Great warriors aren't mom-and-pop diners, you know."
Let our catch be 'Thou Knave'.
"Let's dance to 'You Jerk'."
Malvolio's a Peg-a-Ramsey.
"Malvolio's Little Bo-Peep."
They need a new name, though. I am very afraid.
Showing posts with label procrastination. Show all posts
Showing posts with label procrastination. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Sloth
No, not this kind. Just my usual summertime brain-funky ways, exacerbated by the fact that I'm spending most of this summer in Deep South Town, which is the laziest place in the universe. (I think it would be a good idea to finish the book manuscript, or at least send off an article or two, so I can look productive and won't have to do this again next summer. But I'm not very good at translating that thought into action.)
I don't do well without structure and deadlines. I know this. I figure I'll do stuff later, and then when it is later, I think of something else that I need to do first. The only reason I finished my dissertation, I sometimes think, is because I managed to trick myself into writing it as a series of conference papers, which come with built-in deadlines. (Also, I had a summer tutoring job which involved sitting in the student lounge night after night, waiting for students to show up, and I did have a laptop but didn't have wireless access. This is a tricky and difficult-to-replicate set of circumstances.)
And now I'm trying to turn the thing into a book that someone might actually want to read, and it feels like this endless process of unweaving something that was perfectly serviceable to begin with, and turning it into a tangled mess. Like being Penelope, only without the higher purpose. (Because honestly, I'm not convinced that anyone really wants to read scholarly books of any description, let alone this one. Frankly, the whole scholarship machine strikes me as about as useful as running on a hamster wheel and rather less fulfilling, and if someone offered me twice the committee work in exchange for no publication expectations ever, I would take that deal in a heartbeat. There, I've said it. I know we're all supposed to love our research and be excited about having time for it, but I don't. I'm in this profession because I like most of my students and believe I'm teaching them something worthwhile, and because I believe that my poor, underfunded, embattled university is doing meaningful work in a community that desperately needs it, and I want to do what I can to support that mission.)
But in the meantime, I probably do need to publish something, and I probably need to make some progress on that front this summer. Only it's not absolutely necessary that I do so today. Or tomorrow. Or on any given day, really. So it's ridiculously easy to turn into a complete slug who can't even maintain a blog properly. (You'll notice the near-complete silence since April's Shakespeare blogging. Somehow I could do that while teaching four classes with four different preps, but take away that structure, and it all goes to hell.)
On the plus side, I have very nearly finished unpacking the boxes from when I moved here two years ago! Woo hoo!
I don't do well without structure and deadlines. I know this. I figure I'll do stuff later, and then when it is later, I think of something else that I need to do first. The only reason I finished my dissertation, I sometimes think, is because I managed to trick myself into writing it as a series of conference papers, which come with built-in deadlines. (Also, I had a summer tutoring job which involved sitting in the student lounge night after night, waiting for students to show up, and I did have a laptop but didn't have wireless access. This is a tricky and difficult-to-replicate set of circumstances.)
And now I'm trying to turn the thing into a book that someone might actually want to read, and it feels like this endless process of unweaving something that was perfectly serviceable to begin with, and turning it into a tangled mess. Like being Penelope, only without the higher purpose. (Because honestly, I'm not convinced that anyone really wants to read scholarly books of any description, let alone this one. Frankly, the whole scholarship machine strikes me as about as useful as running on a hamster wheel and rather less fulfilling, and if someone offered me twice the committee work in exchange for no publication expectations ever, I would take that deal in a heartbeat. There, I've said it. I know we're all supposed to love our research and be excited about having time for it, but I don't. I'm in this profession because I like most of my students and believe I'm teaching them something worthwhile, and because I believe that my poor, underfunded, embattled university is doing meaningful work in a community that desperately needs it, and I want to do what I can to support that mission.)
But in the meantime, I probably do need to publish something, and I probably need to make some progress on that front this summer. Only it's not absolutely necessary that I do so today. Or tomorrow. Or on any given day, really. So it's ridiculously easy to turn into a complete slug who can't even maintain a blog properly. (You'll notice the near-complete silence since April's Shakespeare blogging. Somehow I could do that while teaching four classes with four different preps, but take away that structure, and it all goes to hell.)
On the plus side, I have very nearly finished unpacking the boxes from when I moved here two years ago! Woo hoo!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Discontents in Deep South Town
More discontents I never had
Since I was born, than here;
Where I have been, and still am sad,
In this dull Devonshire;
Yet justly too I must confess,
I ne'er invented such
Ennobled numbers for the press
Than where I loathed so much.
-- Robert Herrick
Am back home for the rest of the summer. I am trying out Herrick's formula for literary productivity. I'm not sure it's working.
I don't actually loathe it here -- at least, not yet -- but it is hazy and hot and sleepy, and there are too many strip malls and check-cashing places, and the most happening place in town is the Super WalMart, and the thought of staying here for the next thirty-odd years fills me with a vague sense of dread. I had an idea that this would force me to start revising the dissertation out of sheer boredom, or failing that, to start revising the novel I began a while ago and haven't touched for the last six months. But right at the moment, I can't bring myself to open either file.
Would it be phenomenally stupid for me to retype my entire dissertation, making whatever changes I see fit along the way? On the plus side, this would force me to pay attention to every word, and I would end up with a brand-new M*cros*ft W*rd version, which seems to be what publishers want, rather than an ancient and quirky WordPerfect file which always ends up with screwed-up formatting when I try to convert it. On the other hand, this sounds like it could be a colossal waste of time, and would also require me to actually install W*rd on my home computer, where I don't particularly want it. (Typing it up at the office is not an option, as I cannot have beer at the office. One must observe the decencies.)
Herrick, I'm fairly sure, never faced such a dilemma; but then, Herrick waited until after he had lost his day job to start sending his ennobled numbers for the press, which is a luxury I can't afford.
I think I will go swimming, or maybe pick some blackberries.
Since I was born, than here;
Where I have been, and still am sad,
In this dull Devonshire;
Yet justly too I must confess,
I ne'er invented such
Ennobled numbers for the press
Than where I loathed so much.
-- Robert Herrick
Am back home for the rest of the summer. I am trying out Herrick's formula for literary productivity. I'm not sure it's working.
I don't actually loathe it here -- at least, not yet -- but it is hazy and hot and sleepy, and there are too many strip malls and check-cashing places, and the most happening place in town is the Super WalMart, and the thought of staying here for the next thirty-odd years fills me with a vague sense of dread. I had an idea that this would force me to start revising the dissertation out of sheer boredom, or failing that, to start revising the novel I began a while ago and haven't touched for the last six months. But right at the moment, I can't bring myself to open either file.
Would it be phenomenally stupid for me to retype my entire dissertation, making whatever changes I see fit along the way? On the plus side, this would force me to pay attention to every word, and I would end up with a brand-new M*cros*ft W*rd version, which seems to be what publishers want, rather than an ancient and quirky WordPerfect file which always ends up with screwed-up formatting when I try to convert it. On the other hand, this sounds like it could be a colossal waste of time, and would also require me to actually install W*rd on my home computer, where I don't particularly want it. (Typing it up at the office is not an option, as I cannot have beer at the office. One must observe the decencies.)
Herrick, I'm fairly sure, never faced such a dilemma; but then, Herrick waited until after he had lost his day job to start sending his ennobled numbers for the press, which is a luxury I can't afford.
I think I will go swimming, or maybe pick some blackberries.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
obsessive
Next semester is four and a half months away. That's, like, an eternity.
So why am I checking Banner four or five times a day to see who is signing up for my classes?
So why am I checking Banner four or five times a day to see who is signing up for my classes?
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Feeling lazy...
Here I am in Parentland. I'm staying for three weeks. Theoretically, this makes a lot of sense, as there is no particular reason for me to be in Deep South Town over winter break; our little library is unimpressive, the campus will be closed for most of the break anyway, and the most exciting thing to do in town is visit the Super Wal-Mart.
So why do I find it so difficult to get any work done in Parentland?
I would be feeling less guilty about this if I were actually partaking of the delights of Big East Coast City, but in fact, I have mostly stayed in the house re-reading children's books and enjoying the wireless Internet. For some reason, every time I visit my folks, my brain seems to turn into mush. I have three brand-new classes to prep and a paper to write for SAA, but neither of these things is happening at any noticeable speed. Nor have I bought any Christmas presents, because somehow, the "Christmas = four days from now" equation is just not computing.
Is anyone else feeling completely lazy, too?
So why do I find it so difficult to get any work done in Parentland?
I would be feeling less guilty about this if I were actually partaking of the delights of Big East Coast City, but in fact, I have mostly stayed in the house re-reading children's books and enjoying the wireless Internet. For some reason, every time I visit my folks, my brain seems to turn into mush. I have three brand-new classes to prep and a paper to write for SAA, but neither of these things is happening at any noticeable speed. Nor have I bought any Christmas presents, because somehow, the "Christmas = four days from now" equation is just not computing.
Is anyone else feeling completely lazy, too?
Sunday, September 28, 2008
chiefly procrastinatory
Via Ceirseach: The Amazing and Incredible, Only Slightly Laughable, Politically Unassailable, Po-Mo English Title Generator.
Here are some titles it suggested when I introduced it to Heywood:
Politicizing the Orgasmic Alterity in Thomas Heywood: Edward IV and Power
Attraction and Theory in Edward IV: Thomas Heywood Fragmenting Erotic Opposition
Historicizing, Masculizing, Interpreting: Withdrawal in Thomas Heywood and the Oral Dis-ease of Textuality in Edward IV
The Ethnocentrism of Capitalism and the Problematic in Thomas Heywood's Edward IV
Producing Influence: Female Object in Thomas Heywood's Edward IV
(Amazingly, four out of five of these sort of make sense, and the first one is actually quite apposite.)
Politics as Intercourse: Norming Homosexual Politics in Thomas Heywood's The Fair Maid of the West
The Advocacy of Pathos and the Orgasmic in Thomas Heywood's The Fair Maid of the West
Fraying Diaspora: Fictive Peoples in Thomas Heywood's The Fair Maid of the West
Producing, Deflowering, Developing: Means of Production in Thomas Heywood and the Racist Fragments of Margins in The Fair Maid of the West
Depression as Intolerance: Re-marking Neocolonialist Transgression in Thomas Heywood's The Fair Maid of the West
(These are even more appropriate, but one of the beauties of The Fair Maid of the West is that it has absolutely everything.)
Re-producing the Erotic Intercourse in Thomas Heywood: If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody and Madwomen
Thomas Heywood, If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody, and The Primitive: Infantilizing Oriental Rage
The Patriarchal Smuggling The Proletariat: Thomas Heywood, If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody and Ideology
The Responsive Mediating The Penetrated: Thomas Heywood, If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody and Womanhood
The Ephemeral Queering The Oppressed: Thomas Heywood, If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody and Identity
(And these, alas, make no sense whatsoever. Two out of three's not bad.)
Here are some titles it suggested when I introduced it to Heywood:
Politicizing the Orgasmic Alterity in Thomas Heywood: Edward IV and Power
Attraction and Theory in Edward IV: Thomas Heywood Fragmenting Erotic Opposition
Historicizing, Masculizing, Interpreting: Withdrawal in Thomas Heywood and the Oral Dis-ease of Textuality in Edward IV
The Ethnocentrism of Capitalism and the Problematic in Thomas Heywood's Edward IV
Producing Influence: Female Object in Thomas Heywood's Edward IV
(Amazingly, four out of five of these sort of make sense, and the first one is actually quite apposite.)
Politics as Intercourse: Norming Homosexual Politics in Thomas Heywood's The Fair Maid of the West
The Advocacy of Pathos and the Orgasmic in Thomas Heywood's The Fair Maid of the West
Fraying Diaspora: Fictive Peoples in Thomas Heywood's The Fair Maid of the West
Producing, Deflowering, Developing: Means of Production in Thomas Heywood and the Racist Fragments of Margins in The Fair Maid of the West
Depression as Intolerance: Re-marking Neocolonialist Transgression in Thomas Heywood's The Fair Maid of the West
(These are even more appropriate, but one of the beauties of The Fair Maid of the West is that it has absolutely everything.)
Re-producing the Erotic Intercourse in Thomas Heywood: If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody and Madwomen
Thomas Heywood, If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody, and The Primitive: Infantilizing Oriental Rage
The Patriarchal Smuggling The Proletariat: Thomas Heywood, If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody and Ideology
The Responsive Mediating The Penetrated: Thomas Heywood, If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody and Womanhood
The Ephemeral Queering The Oppressed: Thomas Heywood, If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody and Identity
(And these, alas, make no sense whatsoever. Two out of three's not bad.)
Thursday, April 17, 2008
boring job getting old
Heu Mihi asks: Has anyone yet written a story (or poem) entirely in Google searches?
Um. I have now?
boring job getting old
beginning the semester+high school
Teaching poetry to lazy AP students
norton anthology, robert herrick, the vine
examples of comments on student papers
“end of the honeymoon”
what is “wanwood leafmeal”
“dreadful people”
4 kinds of jobs job boring as hell;
chronicle careers columnist
ghost hollins college
robin hood the pinner of wakefield
VAP's
inconsequential job for a fifty year old
subconsciously seeing a cat in my office
pirates in bed and body works
drunk angels
making him a maid
maid becomes mistress
back in real life
what was magic like in shakespeare’s time
what difficulties did oscar wilde have to encounter
how did shakespeare feel about the chain of being
why didnt oscar wilde like the upper class
what kind of job did shakespeare like to do
oscar wilde explode
freaking out about MLA interviews
i hate christmas
Um. I have now?
boring job getting old
beginning the semester+high school
Teaching poetry to lazy AP students
norton anthology, robert herrick, the vine
examples of comments on student papers
“end of the honeymoon”
what is “wanwood leafmeal”
“dreadful people”
4 kinds of jobs job boring as hell;
chronicle careers columnist
ghost hollins college
robin hood the pinner of wakefield
VAP's
inconsequential job for a fifty year old
subconsciously seeing a cat in my office
pirates in bed and body works
drunk angels
making him a maid
maid becomes mistress
back in real life
what was magic like in shakespeare’s time
what difficulties did oscar wilde have to encounter
how did shakespeare feel about the chain of being
why didnt oscar wilde like the upper class
what kind of job did shakespeare like to do
oscar wilde explode
freaking out about MLA interviews
i hate christmas
Sunday, March 16, 2008
wherein I avoid writing my conference paper
A Mathematical Formula, by which the Awesomeness of a piece of Renaissance Literature may be Calculated:
1) Count up the total number of times the following elements appear: cross-dressing, pirates, unusual ways to poison people, bed-tricks, invisibility, sexually ambiguous kings, space travel, unexpected appearances from Roman gods, ghosts, zombies, cannibalism, Robin Hood.
2) Multiply the resulting number by 1 + the number of severed body parts appearing in the work. Severed heads count double if they talk.
3) Add five points if there is a hippogryph. Hippogryphs are inherently awesome. Other fantastic beasts may be worth a point or two, but not if they are named Error.
4) Add two points for every character who sings a totally inappropriate song; e.g., if four men going to the gallows decide to treat the audience to a rousing rendition of "Three Merry Men Be We," you would then add eight points.
Hamlet, for example, has pirates, two appearances of a ghost, and three really weird ways to poison people; it would score 6 + 2 x (however many of Ophelia's songs you deem totally inappropriate). Orlando Furioso would score off the charts, as it rightly should.
Maybe I should just go to this conference, say "Cross-dressing! Pirates! Double bed-trick!" and then sit down.
1) Count up the total number of times the following elements appear: cross-dressing, pirates, unusual ways to poison people, bed-tricks, invisibility, sexually ambiguous kings, space travel, unexpected appearances from Roman gods, ghosts, zombies, cannibalism, Robin Hood.
2) Multiply the resulting number by 1 + the number of severed body parts appearing in the work. Severed heads count double if they talk.
3) Add five points if there is a hippogryph. Hippogryphs are inherently awesome. Other fantastic beasts may be worth a point or two, but not if they are named Error.
4) Add two points for every character who sings a totally inappropriate song; e.g., if four men going to the gallows decide to treat the audience to a rousing rendition of "Three Merry Men Be We," you would then add eight points.
Hamlet, for example, has pirates, two appearances of a ghost, and three really weird ways to poison people; it would score 6 + 2 x (however many of Ophelia's songs you deem totally inappropriate). Orlando Furioso would score off the charts, as it rightly should.
Maybe I should just go to this conference, say "Cross-dressing! Pirates! Double bed-trick!" and then sit down.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Back to real life...
Temperature in the high sixties today! Whoo! It was too nice to stay indoors, despite being rather overcast, so I went to the zoo and the Awesome Bookstore in New City. Pretty nearly a perfect day.
Real life starts again tomorrow, with a five-hour pre-semester teaching workshop (fortunately, not all five hours are mandatory -- but I figure I'd better show up and look perky). The syllabi are not done, and I have come to the conclusion that I'm completely clueless about one of the classes I'm supposed to be teaching next semester, and have grave doubts about the others.
Needless to say, I have spent less time writing syllabi than playing the geography trivia games at travelpod.com, which are both frustrating and addictive as all hell. (And what's worse, they make me want to grab the backpack and disappear for a month or two, which I can't possibly do until May at the earliest, and then only if I have money and a secure job. Sigh.)
Maybe tomorrow I will feel ready for this.
Real life starts again tomorrow, with a five-hour pre-semester teaching workshop (fortunately, not all five hours are mandatory -- but I figure I'd better show up and look perky). The syllabi are not done, and I have come to the conclusion that I'm completely clueless about one of the classes I'm supposed to be teaching next semester, and have grave doubts about the others.
Needless to say, I have spent less time writing syllabi than playing the geography trivia games at travelpod.com, which are both frustrating and addictive as all hell. (And what's worse, they make me want to grab the backpack and disappear for a month or two, which I can't possibly do until May at the earliest, and then only if I have money and a secure job. Sigh.)
Maybe tomorrow I will feel ready for this.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Things I have learned from the sitemeter...
First of all, it's really easy to freak yourself out. (Oh no! Somebody from Next Town Over where a bunch of New SLAC faculty live keeps visiting this site! They must be associated with New SLAC! Oh, crap, what if they're on the search committee? Uh, wait, it's ... um, me. Never mind.
In order not to look like a complete idiot, I hasten to add that I don't live in Next Town Over, and up until a couple of weeks ago, hits from my home computer registered as coming from Other Town Farther Out.)
Secondly, I seem to be getting hits from an extraordinary number of students looking for analysis of either Herrick's poetry or "Lady Windermere's Fan." The first group will almost certainly come away disappointed; as for the second ... well, I'd LOVE to see someone plagiarize my composite essay on Oscar Wilde. Go on, lazy AP English students. I dare you. (On the other hand, those of you who are seriously interested in learning more about this play should definitely check out this fine collection of YouTube videos.)
Search strings on this topic range from the mundane to the bizarre: oscar wilde nature society passage; how does the play lady windermere's fan by oscar wilde reveal the values of the charachters and the nature of their society; odd trick lady windermere’s fan; oscar wilde highlights of life; tea orwell oscar wilde; Lady Windermere’s AP essay; SOMETHING YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT OSCAR WILDE; and, my personal favorite, farting lord windermere.
Other search strings: st. lucy with a quill; MLA interview "haven't heard" (aw, whoever you are, I'm sorry and I hope you've had better luck since then); making him a maid; harry potter custom robes; petruchio's views on marriage; the pirates have dealth with me like thieves of mercy mean; fun facts Jane Goodall blog; and, most intriguingly, research paper on lipstick.
All in all, this is quite intriguing.
In order not to look like a complete idiot, I hasten to add that I don't live in Next Town Over, and up until a couple of weeks ago, hits from my home computer registered as coming from Other Town Farther Out.)
Secondly, I seem to be getting hits from an extraordinary number of students looking for analysis of either Herrick's poetry or "Lady Windermere's Fan." The first group will almost certainly come away disappointed; as for the second ... well, I'd LOVE to see someone plagiarize my composite essay on Oscar Wilde. Go on, lazy AP English students. I dare you. (On the other hand, those of you who are seriously interested in learning more about this play should definitely check out this fine collection of YouTube videos.)
Search strings on this topic range from the mundane to the bizarre: oscar wilde nature society passage; how does the play lady windermere's fan by oscar wilde reveal the values of the charachters and the nature of their society; odd trick lady windermere’s fan; oscar wilde highlights of life; tea orwell oscar wilde; Lady Windermere’s AP essay; SOMETHING YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT OSCAR WILDE; and, my personal favorite, farting lord windermere.
Other search strings: st. lucy with a quill; MLA interview "haven't heard" (aw, whoever you are, I'm sorry and I hope you've had better luck since then); making him a maid; harry potter custom robes; petruchio's views on marriage; the pirates have dealth with me like thieves of mercy mean; fun facts Jane Goodall blog; and, most intriguingly, research paper on lipstick.
All in all, this is quite intriguing.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
misc. stuff
1) Somebody sent me a free copy of The History Boys for absolutely no discernable reason! I love random free books!
2) Shoot me if I ever try to read Cardinal Newman with freshman comp students again. Ow, that was painful.
3) Heu Mihi tagged me for this meme, so what the heck.
4 first names of crushes:
Jeremie. Yeah, spelled that way. We met on a school trip when I was a senior in high school, and unfortunately I was too socially awkward to make things work, but I have nice memories of that trip.
Michael. He read Milton for fun, and I was hopelessly and desperately in love with him from the ages of seventeen to nineteen (kids, don't go to the same college as your high-school crush), but again, it was doomed by my hopeless geekery.
Tom. Studied abroad with him. Unfortunately, he was one of those study-abroad students who find Interesting Foreign Girlfriends, so it was not meant to be.
Daniel. As in Daniel de Bosola, whom I find inexplicably hot. (I'm prone to literary crushes, but I figured it would be cheating if I filled the list with fictional characters.)
4 Pieces of Clothing I wish I still owned (and/or that still fit):
My favorite tie-dyed shirt from high school
My brown sandals, which I threw away when I moved because they were worn out
The last pair of jeans to wear out, which were quite comfortable
The necklace I left at my boyfriend's house in March of 1999, right before he decided to do a disappearing act. I don't miss him, but I kind of miss the necklace.
4 names I've been called at one time or another:
"Bat," "Bucky O'Hare," and "Hey, stupid," all courtesy of my junior high school classmates
"Professor." I really hope some of said classmates are working at the 7-11.
4 professions I secretly want to try:
Archaeologist
Travel writer
EFL teacher, someplace interesting and exotic
Study abroad director
4 musicians I'd most want to go on a date with:
John Lennon (before he died, of course)
Jakob Dylan (though mostly because I'd like to meet his dad)
Jim Malcolm, who is not only rather cute but has a fabulous accent
Any of the musicians at the Globe, circa 1600. Because that would be cool.
4 foods I'd rather throw than eat:
Eggs
Egg, tuna, or chicken salad (which would be rather gross to throw, but better thrown than eaten, anyway)
Red Delicious apples
Bagels (I like bagels, but they look delightfully throwable)
4 things I like to sniff:
Lilacs
Beer
Spices
Autumn leaves
4 people I tag:
Anyone who wants to be tagged, can be
2) Shoot me if I ever try to read Cardinal Newman with freshman comp students again. Ow, that was painful.
3) Heu Mihi tagged me for this meme, so what the heck.
4 first names of crushes:
Jeremie. Yeah, spelled that way. We met on a school trip when I was a senior in high school, and unfortunately I was too socially awkward to make things work, but I have nice memories of that trip.
Michael. He read Milton for fun, and I was hopelessly and desperately in love with him from the ages of seventeen to nineteen (kids, don't go to the same college as your high-school crush), but again, it was doomed by my hopeless geekery.
Tom. Studied abroad with him. Unfortunately, he was one of those study-abroad students who find Interesting Foreign Girlfriends, so it was not meant to be.
Daniel. As in Daniel de Bosola, whom I find inexplicably hot. (I'm prone to literary crushes, but I figured it would be cheating if I filled the list with fictional characters.)
4 Pieces of Clothing I wish I still owned (and/or that still fit):
My favorite tie-dyed shirt from high school
My brown sandals, which I threw away when I moved because they were worn out
The last pair of jeans to wear out, which were quite comfortable
The necklace I left at my boyfriend's house in March of 1999, right before he decided to do a disappearing act. I don't miss him, but I kind of miss the necklace.
4 names I've been called at one time or another:
"Bat," "Bucky O'Hare," and "Hey, stupid," all courtesy of my junior high school classmates
"Professor." I really hope some of said classmates are working at the 7-11.
4 professions I secretly want to try:
Archaeologist
Travel writer
EFL teacher, someplace interesting and exotic
Study abroad director
4 musicians I'd most want to go on a date with:
John Lennon (before he died, of course)
Jakob Dylan (though mostly because I'd like to meet his dad)
Jim Malcolm, who is not only rather cute but has a fabulous accent
Any of the musicians at the Globe, circa 1600. Because that would be cool.
4 foods I'd rather throw than eat:
Eggs
Egg, tuna, or chicken salad (which would be rather gross to throw, but better thrown than eaten, anyway)
Red Delicious apples
Bagels (I like bagels, but they look delightfully throwable)
4 things I like to sniff:
Lilacs
Beer
Spices
Autumn leaves
4 people I tag:
Anyone who wants to be tagged, can be
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
moving
I have arranged movers, a full fifteen days before I have to be out of here. This makes me very happy because ordinarily I don't do this whole Planning and Organization thing very well at all. Now all I have to do is get everything boxed up before the movers turn up. I've almost started.
I don't think it's really sunk in that I'm leaving University of Basketball Town, which has been home for more than a quarter of my life. I was sixteen when I came here for the first time -- my It's Academic coach was a U. of Basketball graduate and we were going to a tournament in Next City Over, with lots of time left over to explore. Well, I was a sheltered kid from the suburbs, and it was my first time on my own in a real college town in all its quirky glory, and I bought a copy of Rolling Stone from 1975 in one of the used book shops and had Indian food for the first time, and thought, "This is the kind of place where I want to live." And so it was. That particular bookshop is long gone, and I know now that there are many better places to get Indian food around here, but I was right about the part that mattered.
New SLAC is in a much smaller town -- one with a certain amount of historic charm and a real honest-to-God soda fountain, so I'm sure there will be compensations. But then, I went to undergrad in a town that is pretty much synonymous with historic charm, and the truth is that there isn't much to do there (it was better in my day, when we had a cool art-house movie theater right off campus, but even that has turned into a business targeting the tourist crowd). We found stuff to do, as I'm sure the kids at New SLAC probably do -- much of it illegal or downright loony (grits wrestling in a kiddie wading pool, anyone?), but professors don't get invited to that sort of thing.
Um. Not really sure where this post is going, except that writing it is a nice alternative to putting things in boxes, but anyway, I hope I like the new place as much as I like where I live now.
I don't think it's really sunk in that I'm leaving University of Basketball Town, which has been home for more than a quarter of my life. I was sixteen when I came here for the first time -- my It's Academic coach was a U. of Basketball graduate and we were going to a tournament in Next City Over, with lots of time left over to explore. Well, I was a sheltered kid from the suburbs, and it was my first time on my own in a real college town in all its quirky glory, and I bought a copy of Rolling Stone from 1975 in one of the used book shops and had Indian food for the first time, and thought, "This is the kind of place where I want to live." And so it was. That particular bookshop is long gone, and I know now that there are many better places to get Indian food around here, but I was right about the part that mattered.
New SLAC is in a much smaller town -- one with a certain amount of historic charm and a real honest-to-God soda fountain, so I'm sure there will be compensations. But then, I went to undergrad in a town that is pretty much synonymous with historic charm, and the truth is that there isn't much to do there (it was better in my day, when we had a cool art-house movie theater right off campus, but even that has turned into a business targeting the tourist crowd). We found stuff to do, as I'm sure the kids at New SLAC probably do -- much of it illegal or downright loony (grits wrestling in a kiddie wading pool, anyone?), but professors don't get invited to that sort of thing.
Um. Not really sure where this post is going, except that writing it is a nice alternative to putting things in boxes, but anyway, I hope I like the new place as much as I like where I live now.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
OK, one last quote from the Undergraduate Diaries, because I just couldn't resist. This one comes from the middle of a completely loony but extensively-worked-out theory that The Graduate is basically an updated medieval romance. (Among other things, Mrs. Robinson is apparently an evil sorceress, and the bourbon she offers Ben is really a love potion.)
... and oh, by the way, the car fulfills the same functions as a knight's horse*...
* Means of transit, status symbol, and occasional extension of the penis.
Snerk.
Unrelated, but awesome, is this YouTube clip: The Lego Trojan War.
It will be inferred from this that I have been doing absolutely none of the things I swore I was going to do this week, like keeping up with the summer reading and figuring out how the hell I am going to move all my stuff a third of the way across the country. Eee.
... and oh, by the way, the car fulfills the same functions as a knight's horse*...
* Means of transit, status symbol, and occasional extension of the penis.
Snerk.
Unrelated, but awesome, is this YouTube clip: The Lego Trojan War.
It will be inferred from this that I have been doing absolutely none of the things I swore I was going to do this week, like keeping up with the summer reading and figuring out how the hell I am going to move all my stuff a third of the way across the country. Eee.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)