Where's the Rug?

So, whenever I get my pics uploaded, I'll post my Bostonian pictures, and I'll share my experience serving on a jury this past week, but there is a much more grave issue at hand. I read my email this morning for the first time in a few days and learned that the class I was teaching this summer has canceled! What do I do now? Find some ridiculous, not related to my field, drudge job (a la the mall)? Not work and live off of my savings while I read?

I will definitely not be taking the class that I was signed up for; it didn't meet any requirements, just looked interesting. So, I'm left with a lot more free time than I'd anticipated. I guess that's good because I'll have more time to study for my field exams. But, there's even more free time to manage, and I'm much more productive when I'm busy.

But, since I'm in vacation mode (I was waiting for the summer term to start), I've been reading Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. I quite like it. I think I could be friends with the protagonist and narrator Blue. According to her father's advice, the book is "exquisitely annotated" (12), which I can see being grating for some people, but is the life that I live.

A Moment of Silence.

Last night, my U2 special-edition ipod was pronounced dead at my local (ish) apple store. I had little time to mourn, since I'm travelling to Boston today and I am not ready to have an ipod-less existence. As I bought my new ipod, I had to give up my old one. I know there's probably nothing that I could/would have done with it, but it was sad--especially since I was too cheap to spring for the U2 one this time (the last one was a gift). So, my grieving continues and today is Bono's birthday, which keeps the sting of loss fresh (not that yesterday wouldn't be fresh on its own).

Huh

I have become a professional academic because I get excited about reading and then writing and talking about said read (or watched) texts. I'd like to think that I am not without some skills in the field. Yesterday confused me.

I received grades back on the two big papers that I wrote this semester. Granted neither subject (Milton and the Renaissance Essay) are the reason that I have stayed in school so long, but at least for my RenEss paper, I was sort of excited about my topic, which was theoretically tangential to what I do in my particular field. For my Milton paper I chose the topic as something I might like to read, but nothing that I was going be invested in for the larger picture of my research agenda. Why then, did the throw away (and a little bit of a nod to the teacher's interests) topic get a better grade than the far more original, interesting to me one? Why am I a better academic when I care less?

I find it rather disconcerting that I perform better when I care less about my subject.

I Think I See a Light and Why I Love Reading

Well, I was up until 2am writing a final for my class, then I got up at 7:20 to make cupcakes for my friend's birthday lunch. I'm beat. My two big papers are done, now I just have tons of grading and reading to do. I was doing an awesome independent study this semester, but I think I had an overly ambitious reading list and I know I should have somehow (I'm not sure when) done more on it during the semester. I've got six books left that I want to read--most of them are over 300 pages. Blurg. But, on the bright side just when I was completely disconnected and a little bored with my book Oscar and Lucinda (Peter Carey, 1988), I came across this amazing passage:

"...he had an idea involving it, an idea that involved such a dreadful laceration of his own feelings that it is really hard to credit. And yet it was all born out of habits of mind produced by Christianity: that if you sacrificed yourself you would somehow attain the object of your desires. It was a knife of an idea, a cruel instrument of sacrifice, but also one of great beauty, silvery, curved, dancing with light. The odds were surely stacked against him, and had it been a horse rather than a woman's heart he would never have bet on it, not even for a place."

Those last two sentences make me want to weep; they are so beautiful.

A List.

In an attempt to excite me to finish the semester quickly and complete all the work I need to do before the freedom of summer break (all three weeks of it), I'm posting a list of the books I hope to read during that time. Most of them are not especially academic, but these are the final books I'll be reading for fun before I start studying for my field exams (a six month+ process):

• All six Harry Potter books.
• Special Topics in Calamity Physics, Marisha Pessl
• Bibliophilia: A Novella and Stories, Michael Griffith
• Having finished Paradise Lost, it seems appropriate to read Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.
• Summer at Tiffany, Marjorie Hart
• Masquerade, sequel to Blue Bloods, Melissa de la Cruz
• and while I might not read it cover to cover, I'll be perusing Bollywood: A Guidebook to Popular Hindi Cinema.

If anybody's read any of these, how did you like them? This list is not necessarily in order of importance, and I probably won't get to them all, so I'd like help prioritizing!

Xenophobic Bravo*?

Already I like Shear Genius in it's single episode more than the whole of Top Design--apparently others agree, there wasn't a reunion episode, nor the drawing out of the finale into two episodes. Sadly, the cute, sassy, and French Paul-Jean was the first one cut, following the disturbing trend of Bravo's reality series first kicking off the foreigners. In the first season of Top Chef, the first to go was Irish, in the second season, it was British. Coincidence?

*I don't really think Bravo's xenophobic; I'm mostly sad that I don't have the foreign accents to listen to--thank goodness for BBC America!

Commenting on Student Papers

As I am spending a lot of time grading papers of late, I was highly amused by my google quote of the day

I am returning this otherwise good typing paper to you because someone has printed gibberish all over it and put your name at the top.
- An English Professor

and this McSweeney's list.

And while I would sometimes like to write things along the lines of "You have managed to coldly and persistently rape the English language for 17 pages. Congratulations" more often than not I end up with more of the "You had some nice details" variety.

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.

...The Book!

Okay, so my department has a list serve for announcements, information, argumentation, etc. Of late, an oft visited topic on the Canon vs. new forms of literature (condensed classics, blogs, graphic novels) has been making the rounds. Amongst the bickering was a link for this video (I'm not cool enough to know how to embed it) about the technology problems one encounters nowa, -er yesterdays.

Speaking of books, what have I been reading lately, you ask?
Well, while I've read the introduction to Jean Rhys 's (of Wide Sargasso Sea fame) first novel Quartet, I've not so much actually started the text, perhaps tonight, definitely by Thursday. I've been reading Milton (whose early life story feels eerily similar to my own), some of his Prolusions and the essay "Of Education." Mostly I've been doing a close reading Dracula for the class I'm teaching. What a great novel!

Today, my literary focus will include a few Renaissance essays on Friendship, but primarily will entail creating my own essay. Look for "Of Oscars" in the near future!

Anita and Me

I love finding myself in books. This weekend I finished reading Meera Syal's Anita and Me for my independent study. By the by, the movie is wonderful fun, I encourage everyone to see it, you won't regret it. But, this passage perfectly nails what I have often been troubled about, but never been able to put words to:

"My mind drifted into practical overdrive, as it did with all my daydreams. It was never enough to have a vague picture, such as 'I save Donny Osmond from near death and win a medal'. I had to know what I was wearing, whether it was a fire in a top London hotel or a runaway horse in a summer meadow, what the weather was like, who was watching and how my hair looked at the moment of rescue.

It was an annoying trait, I admit, and often I got bored with the fantasy halfway through, bogged down by stylistic detail when I should really have been concentrating on the emotion and wish-fulfilment side of things." (202)

Grr.

The Bears lost. I didn't expect them to win, but then the first quarter was so exciting--they taught me to hope.

It's very very cold. My mom's school is canceled but mine remains on. At least the class I teach isn't meeting in the morning per usual, but in the afternoon to watch The Innocents. And the students that can't come are sending me cranky emails, despite my repeated warnings that this film was hard to find, so they should borrow my copy. I refuse to let it be my fault, even though inside I feel like apologizing.

So, I give you a grumpy " 'airy co' " and the home of an extremely annoying French soldier.

Sorry...

I know I've been terrible about posting. For some reason it just seems like so much energy; I'm not sure why. Topics often go through my head for posts, plus there's still European adventures to share. I know that my audience isn't large, so there's not pressure to post. I don't know...and I'm sure reading apologies are ridiculous and boring, so...

I've been reading a lot of and thinking about British literature. I'm starting to prep for studying for my field exams, which I'll take in a year. I've already started having panic dreams. But, I've been in the British mindset, so I'm including a shot from the top of the London Eye, where we had one of the two days of sunshine my entire trip, and Brighton pier (at night and in the day) where we spent a night, dreaming of the Regency Era.

Top Chef Finale and Belgian Waffles

I am incredibly stoked. The man that I have rooted for from the beginning made to the final two. Is it the hair? Possibly. The cool name? Probably. The fact that his arrogance is hot because he actually is super talented, so it's not really hubris, but confidence? That he didn't personally attack people even when unfairly villanized? That he's clearly a geek in his field? Definitely. Marcel, I love you; if we get married, we'll be able to have amazing dinner parties for the English department, and I promise I will eat anything you make me...even if it's something gross with peas, mushrooms, olives, or green peppers.

And now, a foodie moment from Brussels.

Sunday Comics

Sunday is the best day for comics, well I don't get a paper anymore, but that's what I remember from being a kid. Brussels takes their comics seriously; they were continually refered to as the 'ninth art'. (I don't know what the first eight are, but I'm sure it's they are the more accepted classic ones.) Katie and I went to the Comic Strip Centre, which has history of comics, production of, etc. Most of the exhibits didn't have English explanations, and though we had a book from the desk that had the English translations, it was incomplete and difficult to follow at times. But, Belgium is the home to Tintin, the Smurfs, and the guy with a red mask (sadly, Katie has those pics, so you won't see him).

Beyond the obvious coolness of the Museum, it was housed in a former department store that was designed by Victor Horta, one of the first architects to encorporate the principles of Art Nouveau into buildings. It was wonder-bar, but there'll be more on him later.

So I Went to Europe...

The past few weeks have been extremely busy. Once school ended, I had a few days off before going to Boston to be with my family for Christmas. Since my brother and sister -in-law recently moved into a new house we spent most of the time moving boxes, painting walls, and doing other general home repair (well, my dad did, I just stuck to painting and carrying things). It was nice that I got to see the Family Roomie while in Boston.
On the 27th , I flew to Chicago to fly to London to get on a bus to Coventry to get on another bus to get to Birmingham to see Katie. It was an exhausting day-plus of travel, but worth it! I was abroad until Jan 14th . Katie and I spent time in London, Brussels, Brighton, and, of course, Birmingham, until Eden showed up on the 10th when we trekked up to and all around Scotland, where we saw Nessy!At the beginning of December, I received a lover-ly Olympus Stylus 750 digital campus for my birthday/Christmas. I have since taken hundreds of pictures, some more of which I will post, describing my travel adventures as the spirit leads. I assure in no way will I attempt to follow a linear narrative of events because that is too daunting a task that would surely fall by the wayside in light of my extremely busy semester that is just starting, but more on that later.