Distract Me!

Okay, so I don't feel as though I have anything amusing or new to share, but I am actively looking for something to distract me from my paper, but that I don't have to feel too guilty about. I mean, I am still sitting at my computer sitting in the piled semi-circle of open and marked books. I'm done with my paper in the sense that I've just about said all there is to say, but I'm not quite to fifteen pages and my professor asked for twenty. I'm slightly annoyed because I had a broader topic that she made me narrow, and now I don't have the books, nor have I done the reading to go back to my original idea. Oh yeah, and its due Wednesday. I wanted to be done with a draft tonight, so I could just be editing--she's a grammatical Nazi, but strangely puts in all the extraneous 'that's' that I try to cut out. I wonder if E&E Editing services include 25% increase in material length...

Esotaric Juvenalia

In my Middle English Literature class, we're giving 'conference' presentations--basically reading aloud a twenty minute version (8-10 pages) of your term paper. Let's be honest. What we write in those things belongs on the printed page, not the human tongue. While writing, we revel in long, complex sentences, seamless insertion of quotes, and unpronouncable vocabulary. By the fifth one of these in an afternoon, my attention was...let's just say waning. So, with the help of a complicit classmate, we embarked on Medieval MASH!* And so I give you my Medieval future:

Living in a mansion...
I will own four books.
I will be an lady, wench, evil fairy, anchoress.
I will marry Gawain, King Olaf, lovesick lyric poet, Piers Plowman.
He will work as a merchant, field hand, priest, knight.
The language I know will be French, none/illiterate, vulgar English, Latin.
My favorite deadly sin will be gluttony, jealousy, wrath, sloth.
My favorite sermon topic will be chastity, levels of the estates, generosity, joining a convent.



*I will say we actually have played this before with other topics, the best of which is Harry Potter MASH.

The End is Nigh

Only two weeks of classes and then finals week left. Wow, as I write that I think about the two papers I still have to write (probably only 20 pages total, so not as bad as it could be), and the research papers I have to grade--rough and final drafts. Eek! Finals week used to be the best week of the school year, we'd watch movies--often the whole of the BBC Pride and Prejudice-- and enjoy the sunshine (usually). Sadly, now that I'm a teacher it means doing lots of grading, no matter how hard I try to front-load my syllabus, and making tough decisions like, should I fail (meaning give less than a C, which requires the repeat of the course) the senior taking my required gen-ed along with 24 other hours this semester who is planning on graduating, but really walks that D/C line?

More Personal Connections

In an attempt to seriously and intently not do my paper (eek, I need ten pages by Wednesday, conference ready!), I watched In the Company of Men, which is directed by Neil LaBute and stars Aaron Eckhart. It's quite interesting, very little action, just lots of talking, but I haven't seen anything so horrific in a very long time. Two corporate alpha males play a game of revenge against women that have wronged them by toying with a deaf girl's emotions. It's terrifying to think that men exist like this. Its disturbing to get such a close look at a character like Eckhart's Chad that may in fact not have a soul.

The personal connection is that it was shot in Fort Wayne, with special thanks to the Pfieffer House--a coffee house that I've known and loved. In fact, I think they shot a scene there, but I'd need a second opinion...

Ok, on to Medieval drama.

Once Again Hollywood Reaches Out to Me

I was watching season three of Angel (the episode "Billy" where the guy passes on misogynistic urges to other guys was awesome...of course, they kicked his ass) and there was another reference to a town in my life. (Like the Wheaton/Veronica Mars connection.) At one point, as the gang is foiling the evil plans of evil-doers, an evil guy ticks off some key cities of operation that they'll need to contact, "Berlin, Singapore, Paris, Muncie." Indeed, Muncie being a center of maniacal machinations would explain some things, like how it took me three years to learn how to find my way home from there in any sort of reliable way.

Fortunately, Harry and the Potters will be playing played there April 7th. (Dang, I was going to make Lij go.) I'm sure they made the town safe with their Wizard Rock that vanquishes evil foes.

For Once,

I shall be the cool one, who knows the hep internet sites. Check out dinosaur comics. This guy's been doing them every weekday for three or so years, always using the same six panels of art. They're pretty great.

Gulp

That's me swallowing my pride. I had to apologize for saying some things that unintentionally made one of my friends feel devalued about a past relationship. I don't know how well it went; I've been wanting to say something for a week, but didn't figure it was appropriate in an email, or even a telephone conversation, though that's where it ended up happening. I wanted to speak to him in person, but its awkward when there are always other people about. I don't really want the entire office/department to know what I'm saying.

So, I ended up calling him because I was just feeling awful whenever I thought about that situation. The problem is I don't know how well it was received. I'm not great at reading people's facial expressions and body language, but I'm better at that than I am at voice inflection. I don't really know what I was expecting in return, not that he said much, but I hope that I was able to clearly communicate my regret for making him feel bad because that was clearly not my intention.

Could it be? A Research Agenda?

I presented my "award-winning" paper today. I was unnecessarily nervous; all went well.

Lots of papers have yet to be written this semester. I'm rather excited about one that I'm going to write that deals with Dirty Pretty Things, which I just re-watched this weekend and realized how fantastic it's going to be. And exactly how fantastic is that, you ask? We're talking leading into dissertation fantastic, that's how much!