Freakish and Random

As I was filling out my gradebook for the semester, I noticed that eight students, a full one-third of the class, have last names beginning with "S."

I've finished the second season of Gilmore Girls. Quite fun; I'm torn over whether I want Rory to be with Dean or Jess.

I finally finished my homemade present for Eden; I can now send her the birthday/Christmas combo pack (not yet a month late!).

My cinema and the city class is awesome. Last week we watched Fallen Angels, which rocked. Alienated people wandering Hong Kong at night with cool, techno-mellow music. This week we're watching Metropolis, which I'm excited for, except for the fact that its silent and I can do absolutely nothing else, but watch it. No multi-tasking tonight.

Tuesday, Oscar nominations are announced!

Do we think this would look awful on me? It would be the perfect thing to go with my red Mary Janes that I don't know what to wear with.

And I Was Doing So Well

I was so productive the first week of school. Heck, I was even good for most of the weekend, finishing most of the week's homework and lesson plans through next Monday. But then Sunday night hit and Gilmore Girls, the first season of which I've been casually watching on dvd, got good. I was up until two a.m. last night (I teach at nine and have a 35 minute commute) watching. And again tonight, rather than finishing reading all my students writing samples, I finished the season, which ends rather cliff hanger-y and now I can't wait to get my hands on the next season. It's frightenly remniscent of last year's Buffy (not that I'm loving Gilmore Girls nearly as much); fortunately, there are only five seasons available, not seven.

I Can Quit Anytime I Want, or Media Overload

I feel overwhelmed with things to say here, so I'll probably end up saying very little and trite information at that. On Friday there was a lot of snow here, so much that my friends decided not to visit me for dinner and a movie. In the absence of my planned activity, I laid in bed for eight hours or so (I was planning on taking a nap) and watched tv.

Since school started, I feel as though I've been inundated with things to watch. One friend lent me season one of Arrested Development and another season one of Gilmore Girls. In addition, my online rental has sent me (albeit dreadfully low in my queue) the first disc of Profit. So I bounced between these three shows for the entire day. Arrested Development is hilarious in a bizarre way that I'm loving. I'm not yet in love with Gilmore Girls though I'm enjoying it enough to keep watching (like Mt. Everest, the discs must watched because they are there). Profit is disturbing and creepy in a special the-protagonist-is-a-villainous-sociopath sort of way that was too much for mainstream audiences in the mid-90s (heck, it probably still is too much for most mainstream audiences, though not you, gentle reader).

On Saturday, Friday's activities were able to be renewed. We went to see Brokeback Mountain (perhaps slight spoilers ahead). There were some raw scenes that I was uncomfortable watching, but overall, it was interesting, I guess. More interesting however was the not-so-favorable-assessment of the film by my gay friend, who convincingly noted that the film isn't really progressive. Literature/Film often has homosexual characters who are 'punished', similar to the fates of two men in this film. Also, the film seems to be playing to unrealistic fantasies (like most media).

I feel a little bad that my money went to that film, and not End of the Spear a film about Jim Elliot and Nate Saint who were killed on a missionary trip to Ecuador, which my parents are currently seeing. I hadn't really heard of the film until today, and I wasn't prepared to see another film in the theatre so soon.

Well, hopefully, I'll be able to go soon and my students will appreciate the powerpoint on "What You (Should) Already Know About Writing" that I've put together in the meantime.

The Beginning and Strangeness

First few days of the semester. I generally love it; there's nothing more exciting than getting a new syllabus or a new class--what will I read, learn, and love over the next few months? Yesterday was a little disappointing. One class didn't have a syllabus, and the other had some big talkers.

It was weird in my film class; after having the same professor for two years, I anticipated being a little nervous, but I felt like all my confidence in my proficency in the subject was gone. I couldn't speak or jump into the discussion. I felt like it was my first film class all over. Hopefully, that'll wear off soon enough and I'll be able to participate!

This morning I had my first class for teaching. I think it went ok. I have one student from last semester. The kids were all pretty quiet, but seemed eager enough. Hopefully, they'll be a fun group. I had a great bunch last semester, so I worry that they won't be the same.

Odd thing. I'm pretty sure (in the 90th percentile) that one of the students in my class is someone I went to high school with (and he was older than me). Granted, I understand that people take different paths to (or around) college--some meander more than others. But, I feel weird teaching writing to the guy who was ahead of me in Latin. Should I ask him what high school he went to and verify the connection?

Tomorrow!

The semester starts tomorrow. I'm mostly excited. I am much more productive when I have some sort of a schedule. I did however get my bathroom painted. A week into last semester I wished I would have painted it over the summer, but didn't have time until now. I did three coats and it still isn't perfect, but it's livable. I painted it a darkish orange and am going to use brown paint to add words, a quote, a verse, or some such embellishments, but haven't exactly figured out what those'll be yet. For now, it's just orange and that'll have to suffice.

I've got a meeting on campus tonight. My brother leaves tomorrow. Time for the next chapter.

More Stalking

So, when I ran into my stalkee at the office yesterday, I found a reason to go to his office (leaving a note on somebody else's desk with information that I've been meaning to give her for months). During the course of our conversation (well over a half an hour!), he mentioned his blog, to which I replied, "oh really, so anyone can read it," prompting him to give me the address. Of course, I've read it already, but now I can talk to him about it!

I've been spending a bunch of time working on my syllabus, but I think I'm happy with how the class is going to look. I'm going to have them keep blogs!

Internet Stalking

Seeing as I'm the quietish girl that didn't know how to talk to boys very well until college and still doesn't have the faintest idea of how to instigate a relationship, I excel at internet stalking--quietly gathering up every shred of information about the person to be found on the world wide web and then pining for him secretly. My latest crush has mostly dissipated in the wake of him having a harem of girls also pining for him, some probably much louder than me.

However, he wrote a fantastic journal about a coast to coast walking trip he took by himself this past summer in England. He's quite a droll writer and makes me want to go back to England (not that I need much encouragement for that). While there are a myriad of reasons why we would be perfect for each other, the one from this journal that stands out to me is from Day Twenty-Three. I have made anyone who has ever visited me and walked in the woods behind my house play Pooh Sticks. Generally, I have to explain the reference, but here's a guy who already knows it.

Sigh. Pine.

As Soon As I'm Not Lazy

(e.g. when the semester starts), I shall post this in a permanent fashion on my sidebar.

But not today.

Today, I shall just post the link here and say Post Secret is amazing. People make handmade postcards sharing a secret and send them to this guy who posts them. Its amazing. I've been reading them for several months now and I almost always laugh aloud and tear up at the same time. There's an exhibition of cards in DC that I wish I'd go to (man, I need to visit Carrie!). Cards are used in the All-American Rejects new video for "Dirty Little Secret."

Anyway, if you people haven't ever seen 'em, do so now and I promise you won't regret the time. Money back guaranteed!

Oh Yeah

Happy Blog Birthday to me! It's been exactly one year since my first post. Nothing compared to the prolific likes of Eden or Lij, but still--yay!

The Librarian

All of you should see The Librarian: Quest for the Spear. It's a little cheesy in that special made for TV way (which is silly, why should TV be an inferior medium for two-hour narratives than film...well, I suppose the environment--commercials, etc. makes it less appealing, but that doesn't mean the quality should decrease), but quite fun overall. It's very Indiana Jonesish with Noah Wyle as a man who has umpteen degrees and is the king of nerds (swoon). In case you don't see it--your loss--I will fill you in on the two best lines:

"I should have known he was evil; he gave me an A-"

from one woman to another while engaged in fisticuffs over Noah "Get your own geek"