Tonight I'm sleeping with the window open!!

Not That I Ever Denied It...

...but was pointed out to me twice yesterday, that I make rather nerdy jokes. I mean, clearly, I had my audience pegged because they understood them and recognized them for what they were. Are puns that require knowledge of Roanoke and Stanley Fish so crazy that fellow nerds need to highlight that I used them? I'm not sure.

But, perhaps there is something to it, as I sit here listening to "Brand New Lover" by Dead or Alive and I think it's hilarious that their album is titled Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know. Caroline Lamb anyone?

More Timberlake

Okay, two posts on JT may seem like overkill, but I promise I'm not that into him, I mean I don't have any posters up. But, I recently saw Black Snake Moan and I have to give him credit for doing a pretty good job as the screwed up, taciturn boyfriend to Christiana Ricci's nymphomaniac. The whole movie was amazing. Yes, there are some raw scenes, but I don't think they were gratuitous (as say, the sex in 300). Ultimately the film was a story of redemption, and what sinner doesn't like to see that? Yes, Samuel L. Jackson does tie Ricci up to a radiator with a chain, but he's also the first person to care enough about her to try to help her. A smart narrative that blossoms naturally rather than explaining every detail at the beginning--there were times when I had to work a little to put the story (or rather some of the characters) together, which I think is a good thing. This is the kind of film that would be awesome for discussion/teaching at a church, but some people would probably take offense. If you know that you can handle some harshness, then make the effort for this life affirming film.

Truly a Pleasure.

I'm willing to admit it. Justin Timberlake is no longer a guilty pleasure; I am not ashamed to say I enjoy him. That being said, I found an acoustic version of "Sexyback" by a local Chicagoan that is awesome:

A Quote and A Question

Something that I read in Milton's Areopagitica and liked:
“He that can apprehend and consider vice with all her baits and seeming pleasures, and yet abstain, and yet distinguish, and yet prefer that which is truly better, he is the true warfaring Christian. I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat.”

One of my students said she was talking about me with someone from the writing center where I used to work, they were able to discern that they were referring to the same person because they both described me as "jolly." Is that a complement because I'm normally upbeat or an oddly kind way of describing me as overweight?

Synergy

Boy, I love school this semester. Not every semester do I feel this way; sometimes there are classes that are requirements but just not fun; sometimes there are classes that I have to teach that I dislike. This semester has been awesome. Throughout my season in grad school, I've often struggled with the selfishness of it. Continually pouring into myself and spending an immense amount of time to develop my skills. However, it is necessary if I want to be a college professor, and there's no better time in my life to do this. I've also struggled with the research aspect of the profession, feeling as though I'm not giving anything back or doing anything useful with the time and energy spent to write yet another paper. Teaching benefits society and the individuals with whom I have contact, but research--no way...until this semester.

As I've been teaching our "Experience of Fiction" course (sometimes jokingly referred to as the "My Seven Favorite Novels" class), I've found myself spending a ridiculous amount of time researching for it. I've been drawn into the academic conversation around my texts and am seeing, for the first time in my academic life, the practicalities of how research supports teaching and how they are interdependent. Similar to the first time that I truly understood how theory functions (yes, it really is a lens that helps us understand a text), I feel as though my eyes have been opened, and I can clearly see a new level in the world of academia. And the view is spectacular, spectacular.