A Bag

My mother and my sister-in-law are both crafty ladies; I like to think of myself as rather crafty; I like to quilt, knit, crochet, scrapbook, make cards, etc. However, I haven't done much in that vein in awhile, being that most of the time I'm studying (or feeling guilty about not studying). Over Thanksgiving, my sister-in-law was making Christmas cards, and she and my mom were working on a quilt they are making for a cousin who recently got married. The combination of jealousy that I wasn't projecting, plus a brief excursion to a quilt store where I fell in love with some fabric, ended up in a few hours diversion in which I made a purse, bag, thing.

Look at those birds. I couldn't leave it in the store. It's not highly crafted; there are exposed seams on the inside, but I don't particularly care. And, there is a lining and specially designed pockets to hold my essentials with room for a book, stack of student papers, and a water bottle.

My ipod and two pens.

My cell phone and keys.

I'm pleased and only slightly distraught. Rather then satiating my crafty gene, it just made me realize how much I miss it!

Talk Nerdy to Me

At a recent conference, I met a fellow grad student who made an insightful point: gamers make excellent boyfriends for grad students. She suggested that they are inclined to spend large chunks of time playing, perfect for getting work done; if he wants to spend time with you, you can just encourage him to finish his level, and you're guaranteed another couple hours to yourself; and all of your preoccupation with school can be guilt-free!

Much of the tv that I've watched of late has been G4, and I've become rather enamored of Attack of the Show and one of its hosts, Kevin Pereira. The guy is rather cute, especially funny, and has serious geek cred--what's not to love? The other new tv in my life is The Big Bang Theory, and I will admit that I am deeply in love with Sheldon, the uber-geek with a PhD in physics. Seeing as he's just a character though, it may be harder to imagine actually meeting him (or someone of his ilk).

So, I'm sold on the theory; I'm ready. But now the question is, how do I find a real one?

Blerg

I'm sick. I have some sort of sore throat issue that refuses to become a real cold--my nose isn't especially runny, and my infrequent coughing is not "productive." I felt so awful on Monday that I canceled my classes, a first for me. But, I was giving a presentation in my class, so I still attended and did my thing, which went as well as can be expected, I guess. Because I was going to be on campus (and because I canceled classes), I went to the health center. I haven't been to the doctor in like eight years, so I was a bit scared, but it turned out okay. She said it was probably just a virus, not strep, so I guess that's good. I so rarely get sick that I don't know how to deal with myself. I can't concentrate on anything, so I feel negligent (of my studies and classes). Sigh, I just want to feel better.

Dog!

So if you're local, you've heard about the tragic pet hoarding situation that was recently discovered. If not, a woman had over 300 living cats and dogs in her house and 200 dead ones. While they were not abused per say, they were not fully taken care of. Since their rescue, they've been taking care of by the TAILS Humane society in DeKalb.

Today was the first day that the animals were available for adoption. I didn't go (studying for exams) with my mom and brother, but they said there were a lot of people there. Ultimately, Nathan ended up choosing this one.


And he seems like he's going to be a good friend.


***UPDATE: His name is Gibson.

Finally

It's been a long time coming, but I finally saw Across the Universe, and I loved it! Now I'm willing to admit when my personal entertainment and aesthetic desires trump my critical eye*, but I don't think this is the case. Yes, I went into the film wanting to like it, but after Eden's disappointment, I was on my guard.

Since I had the soundtrack, I knew which songs were going to be used, but it was still a delight to see how they were used: US Army posters singing "I want you; I want you so bad;" a girl forlornly singing to her oblivious crush "I want to hold your hand." In addition to the new and interesting levels the film brought to the songs, the visuals were stunning with their unique juxtapositions (e.g. the near-opening sea waves crashing over and through newspapers and video clips of war and race riots). Not having any first-hand experience with the 60s, this is a fairly inexpert opinion, but the film really seemed to capture a wide multitude of experiences and emotions that were jostled together in that time. I can't wait to own it, look at some of the scenes in-depth and then write about it!

I'm sure people will make various levels and depths of comparison to our current war, but ultimately the film was hopeful and uplifting, not so much anti-war as pro-peace and love, which I quite liked.



*I probably should be ashamed of my deep-seeded love of Hudson Hawk, but I'm not.

For Tomorrow...

...clean bathroom for company...30min
...grade 21 student papers at 15 min apiece...315 min
...read the final 227 pages of Tono-Bungay (Wells 1909) at 2min a page...454 min
...eating, bathroom breaks, necessary mental breaks...120 min
total time: 15 hours, 19 minutes.

It's already 12:18, and I've spent 4 minutes composing this blog. I question my will power to resist Ugly Betty, 30 Rock, and The Office tonight.

So, if I am riding on Train A, representing the minimal amount of work I have to do today, and Train B represents tomorrow speeding towards me at a rate of 60min/hr, how long before collision? Will I have time to jump off? If I do, will I injure my academic avatar? Will I pass my January exams?

*Note: If work is shown, partial credit may be available.

Academia

This past weekend I attended the Midwest Popular Culture Association conference in Kansas City. It was fun. For the whole weekend, I was able to walk around talking to interesting, thinking people about ideas and pop culture. There I felt like a functioning member of the academic community. Grad student and faculty mostly blend together, and since this was my fourth year there, I was comfortable in my skin. My panel was canceled because the two other presenters had deaths in their families, and my paper was moved to another panel that didn't fit as well. Most of the audience wanted to talk about comic books, rather than globalization issues and Bollywood musicals. Oh, well. I did have one woman come up to me afterwards and tell me that she was probably going to teach Bride and Prejudice as a result of my paper, which I found flattering. I ever so slightly affected academia! Huzzah!

In a more depressing turn, I was reading an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education about the dwindling numbers of conservatives in faculty. It claimed that the majority of faculty are not far-leftists though, that moderates are the growing number. Not surprising to me was the report that the smallest percentage of conservatives in humanities departments in PhD granting institutions. I would probably consider myself a moderate conservative, but definitely on the right side of the center line, and I often feel as though I cannot voice my views and values in my academic community.

The article provides an interesting reason that might be underlying my fears: the [lack of a] job market. I quote at length:

"Mr. Menand's impression is that dissertation topics in English have changed little since 1990. "Placement and tenure anxiety doesn't exactly encourage iconoclasm," he said. The last great period of ferment in literary theory, he argued, came in the 1970s and early 1980s, at a time when people commonly earned degrees within five years and easily found jobs. With lower personal risks and sacrifices, he suggested, young scholars could afford to offend their elders and to shake up their disciplines.

Today, by contrast, humanities students are sacrificing a decade of their lives with no guarantee of a job at the end of the line. "Who would venture on such a career who did not share, or believe that he or she shared, most of the views of those institutions and gatekeepers?" Mr. Menand asked."

Indeed the professors and the university are the 'gatekeepers' to both my future and my past. If I was to offend (read: present a conservative viewpoint on an issue) those in power (read: my professors, some other graduate students, the department secretaries), I could easily become persona non gratis, which can effect my opportunities, which effects my CV, which effects my viability and connections on the job market, for which is what I've spent the last five year of my life preparing. It's a sad thought knowing that the University, so often encouraging of rebelling against the Man, has got me over a barrel.

Calling Modern Art Historians!

Tuesday, I bought Dashboard Confessional's new album, and I noticed a remarkable similarity to the other latest album I've bought, the Across the Universe soundtrack (which I still haven't seen, grr).


I don't know much about current art trends, but surely there is some ur-text that is influencing both of these album covers. Who first did the dripping, splattered, painted fruit?

Watch it Again

I know I've sent this to a lot of people, but I can't stop watching it. Hilarious. Eddie Izzard's comedy is extremely smart; I love the Monty Python homage.

Crisis Very Nearly Not Averted

So, I'm house-sitting this weekend for a professor who is out of town, and I got stuck in a very teeny bathroom this afternoon. After five or so minutes of vigorous turning, locking and unlocking (I hadn't originally locked it--I am the only person here), I figured the only solution was to MacGyver my way out by removing the door handle using a pair of scissors (found on a cursory inspection of the under the sink contents) on the screws.

As I was happily unscrewing away, I thought myself terribly clever, and while there was a moments pause about letting the outside half of the handle drop to the ground it seemed like the only way to get at the middle chamber. Which, promptly, did not open. Huh.

After being only partially successfully in my attempt to remove the hinges from the door, I was stymied and began to think of the ramifications of spending the next day in there.

• Through the handle hole I could see the dog and one of the cats and knew the mess would be disgusting (I've been on constant vigil and have already had to clean up multiple animal voids--these are needy pets).
• I'd miss both of the classes I was supposed to teach--the irresponsibility of just not showing up seemed unbearable.
• Once I'd missed classes, people might start looking for me (certainly not before), but my parents didn't know the address of where I was staying, and I wouldn't be able to answer any phone calls.
• I tried to picture the conversation I would have with my professor and her husband through the door when they returned home the next afternoon. I was already embarrassed, although I'm not certain how I could have avoided the issue...letting the outside half of the handle drop seemed like a foolish idea now.

After 15 or so minutes ruminating on these issues and trying to work out what object lesson God might be trying to communicate to me, I re-evaluated my materials at hand. Fortunately, the handle was apparently a replacement and the old one had been left in the new one's box along with some spare parts. I was eventually able to use part of the old one to turn the stuck bit and was free! I don't think I'll be replacing the handle, nor closing anymore doors in the house.

Lesson learned, never go to the bathroom without your cell?

All That is Right About Pop Culture

My brother directed me to this gem of a comic, and I am compelled to share with you:

Crime and Punishment.
The comic.
Starring.
Batman.

Could it get any cooler?

The conversation that follows the comic via is also quite interesting. I don't think it's a secret that I value pop culture as worthy of academic study. It's important to read and know originals, the canon, but I also think it's important to teach students to critically analyze and engage with the texts that are commonplace in their worlds. That's why I teach both Dracula and the graphic novel adaptation Renfield: A Tale of Madness and the triumvirate Pride and Prejudice, Bridget Jones's Diary, and Bride and Prejudice.

Adaptations are not meant to replace the original but to be a critical response to and another expression of the a priori text. I appreciate the blog author's assurance to those irate individuals who seem concerned by the very existence of such a mash-up, "Relax, the original’s right there on the shelf, unharmed."

Too bad I learned about this too late to research up on it and present something at the Midwest Popular Culture Conference I'm going to later this fall. Ah well, I haven't finished writing my presentation on Bride and Prejudice, so I suppose it's better to be working with a familiar text and genre if you're composing last minute-ish.

Revamp

I'm changing my study plan, I just don't feel like I'm getting through material quick enough. So, I'm going to abandon my previous chronological order reading plan, and just read at will. Plus, I'm going to start reading poetry and plays along with my fiction so that way I can have a little more sense of accomplishment, because I should be able to read at least a play on the days that I don't have time to do a lot of reading. Also for instance, when I don't really feel like reading D. H. Lawrence's Women in Love, I can turn to David Lodge's Thinks and I'm still being productive.

To that end, I went to the library to stock up on some quicker reads (unfortunately, I don't have the money to buy all these books). The strangest thing though--would you think that founding father of the Theatre of the Absurd, Samuel Beckett would have his play Waiting For Godot located in the teen section? Me, neither.

New Music Tuesday

Two days ago, I had the song "Loud" by Matt Nathanson stuck in my head, prompting me to root through many mix cd's looking for the one that Elaine and I made entitled "Cry With these Songs" where I knew it was track eight. After successfully finding it and then listening to it on repeat for most of yesterday, I was excited/possessively angry/intrigued to see that this week's free itunes song is by Matt Nathanson!

Go Away, Summer, Leave Already.

I had a not-so-great day yesterday: I didn't sleep well; I had tiring dreams (where you dream about doing all the mundane work of the next day, but when you wake up you have to do it all again); I didn't want to teach; I felt stressed about exams; I found out Across the Universe was not coming to my town, but you know what made it especially awful? The weather.

It has been bright, sunny, and warm--upper 80s--for almost a week, and it's supposed to be like that all weekend. Is it too much to ask that autumn be a little more autumn-like? All I want is to be able to do is make soup while wearing jeans, sneakers, and a sweater--is that so much to ask?

Watch Your Language

I'm having my class do a blog, and I'm having them do an activity reading and looking at a variety of blogs. In the course of looking for examples for them, I ran across the blog Overheard in Chicago, which is a compilation of the crazy things people heard around the city. Some favorites:

Girl: "So she called and wanted to know why you were so pissy."Guy: "Did you tell her why?"Girl: "I don't know why."Guy: "Good. Great. Now you know why I'm in such a bad mood."Girl: "Because I don't know why you're in a bad mood."Guy: "Do you see the circle of anger you create?"- [overheard at] Loyola

College Girl: "That's the girl who added me on Facebook, but won't say hi to me in real life." - Columbia College Elevator

Truly a cautionary lesson to us all about public conversations...

Across the Universe

So, I can't wait until I've seen it (opening this weekend) to mention it. I love-loved Titus, Julie Taymor's fantastic and fantastical adaptation of Shakespeare. Across the Universe appears to be in the same visually sumptuous vein, while working with adaptation and re-appropriation of texts in an original story a la Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge. And we all know, that was one of the best movies ever made. (Seriously, no exaggerations, I would at least place that in the top 100 movies ever.)

In preparation for the felicitous occasion, and thanks to Best Buy's low-low prices, I purchased the deluxe edition of the soundtrack, which increased my excitement level. I'm grateful that I'm not one of those individuals bogged down by issues of 'fidelity' that can find no joy in re-imagining of a prior text. I find this collection of Beatles songs delightful (favorites of the moment "Happiness is a Warm Gun" and "Blackbird"), and I highly anticipate seeing them woven into a colorful narrative.

Can I Get an Amen?

Jon Stewart is going to host the Oscars! He has been my favorite host since Billy Crystal, and I'm glad to have him back. I was thinking about backing off of my annal party because the Oscars weren't especially fun last year, but this gives me pause.

HP in 7

One of the things I did this summer was teach at the Bonding Over Books Harry Potter Conference in Philadelphia and one of the classes I helped work on was a teen film workshop. In the course of two days, these eight students (with the help of me and two others, but really the kids did almost all of the non-technical work and even that they gave artistic input) put together a film that condenses the first six books into seven minutes. I think given the time and the no-budgetness of it all the results are pretty good.

Last Reprieve

Due to crazy rain and flooding in the area, campus was closed today, so no department meeting! One final day to get serious about organizing all the paper that has come through my life in the past year or so.

Or, to finish watching the disc of season one of Battlestar Galactica--I hear there's room on the bandwagon.

After 12 Years...

I guess it was time for a change.