My god that post on Saturday was long! Congrats if you actually read the whole thing!
I'm amused at myself - that post was probably the most academic thing I did all weekend. But man oh man did the weekend feel good! It felt so normal and weekend-ish. On Friday we did grocery shopping, saw a movie and picked up transit passes for this week. Saturday was full of soccer game, cleaning (my) house and then going to a housewarming party - which was highly amusing - nice mix of people.
Sunday we went out to Walden Pond for a picnic (just Ange, Dwayne & I since the other two were 'working'), did some soccer drills/goofing around (okay, truth be told, it was mostly just goofing around), and watched movies. Today, the girls and I went shopping, I refilled the propane tank on the BBQ, planted the rest of the bedding plants and will watch game 4 tonight.
So I know you're bored by the description of my weekend, but to me it was an absolute delight! There was no intellectual work involved (okay, except for marking student papers that I squeezed in here or there, but that takes more patience than brain power).
Sweet!
Monday, May 31, 2004
Sunday, May 30, 2004
The truth is stranger than fiction
This has got to be the oddest story I've heard in a long time - a boy plotting his own murder. Why would he do this, you ask? Good question! Seems to me that more than one player in this story has a screw loose.
Saturday, May 29, 2004
I'm makin' a list...
...and checking it twice, and then a third time, and a fourth, and a fifth, and a... well, you get the idea.
This list generating stuff is gonna drive me insane! I feel like I've just been thrown out into library stacks and told "pick good stuff" without any sense of rhyme or reason.
The stacks of books around my desk are piling up as I pull them off my shelves, or borrow them from the library, trying to figure out if they need to be included on a 'comprehensive' list that, if I read it, will presumably make me an expert in three clearly defined areas and give me permission to go on to the dissertation. [And I don't even want to think about the headaches that process will bring with it.]
You know, most of the time, I'm not at all jealous of Dwayne's work - the volume he has to read (and memorize! something I never have to worry about) is prodigious. But at times like this, I am jealous. He may have a lot to read, but at least he knows WHAT he's got to read to pass exams. I've not only got to read and respond to the questions at the end of this year, but I've got to guess right about what I need to read in order to make things profitable.
Grrrrrr. I've felt really unsupported by the department/faculty before, but this really feels like I'm being thrown to the lions.
There is one lining in the cloud - I won't call it silver, 'cause it's probably more like a kind of graphite-grey color (you know, the color of silver when it gets tarnished? or maybe the color of a new car?).
When I first sat down with these lists, I had no clue what to put on them. I would look at the topic and think "I know nothing about this", but then I would start with a title or two, or an author or two, which would lead to another, and then another, and then another,... which was kinda cool 'cause it made me feel smart (or at least well read). But after about a hundred 'anothers', I started to panic again. How do I whittle this huge list down to size? Ideally, I figure about 20 primary texts plus the same number of secondary sources in each of the three areas is going to be the maximum I can read while still taking my exams by next summer.
...Okay, so I checked and the list is actually only about 46, not a hundred... but that's still twice as big as it should be.
And I figure I should have a list of only about 12-15 when I submit it to my supervisor, 'cause I know she'll add to it. And if I give her a list with 30 things on it, I'll get a list with 50 back! [I learnt that lesson with that monster reading course I did last term.]
Speaking of which, I finally got an email back from the prof - something to the effect of "I just read through all of your bibliography and I'm glad I gave you an A 'cause this is good work" - note the past tense of the verb: "gave". Nice to know I'm getting good marks after careful consideration... or maybe he was just impressed by the number of pages I turned in...
There's three lists. The Victorian one, I'm pretty cool with - my supervisor for that area gave me some good suggestions, and with my own interests, I think I've rounded out the list of primary texts. I'll still need to read/re-read them, find secondary sources, read them to decide if they need to go on, and then compile that half of the list, but that will just be time-consuming. I at least know what I've got to do there.
The Narrative theory list will be fairly basic also, though it will take me a lot more time since I've only read a couple of the theoretical works. But I've got a clear plan of action. I'm going to read excerpts of the key writers from two anthologies, and then decide whether I need to read their full book, or just an article - that will then become my list. Straightforward, but a lot of time - even more than the Victorian I figure.
It's the third list that's got me buggered. I want to read and test in twentieth century British prose fiction.
Problem is, there's a helluva lot of British prose fiction written in the last hundred years. Even trying to fashion an area based on a potential thesis on the failures of realism in the British novel still leaves me a lot of categories to cover. I need to include the big names of the post-war period, Amis (both of them), Sinclair, McEwan, Swift, Banks, Barker, Rushdie, Byatt, etc. to name a few, but also can't totally gloss over the modernists like Joyce, Woolf, Conrad, and for continuity-sake with the Victorian, should include the Edwardian period (though I may try to shoehorn them into Victorian to balance out the lists, if I can figure out a way to justify that).
But I also want to look at sf, magic realism, and fantasy... something necessary if I'm going to discuss realist and non-realist text. So okay, maybe I include Lewis Carroll and Tolkien and C.S. Lewis (but you notice the children's lit angle beginning here? not a path I want to go down), but then I also want to include sf, which in some ways is fairly straightforward Aldis, Wyndham Lewis, Lessing,... but do I then also go into utopian/dystopian by including Orwell, Huxley etc.? I'm thinking of putting William Morris on the Victorian list, so if I include a Victorian utopic, do I need to include the twentieth century ones? After all, utopia/dystopia starts to leak into the political, which really has nothing to do with realism [anything you read into that is fully intended...]
But then with the magic realism you get into the thorny question of defining it, and when you start to define it, you start to define a postcolonial/colonial reading list, and then the list really does grow, because you start including Commonwealth stuff like Hulme, Carey, Achebe, Okri, Ishiguro, Lowry, Naipaul etc.... and that could be a list all on its own.
I suppose someone wise might advise me to go talk to my supervisor about all this, right? Right! That would be great advice!
Problem is, I've already talked to her twice about setting up this reading list. The first time, I got the distinct impression she was suggesting I find someone else to supervise this area. Second time, she told me that I needed to decide what I wanted on the list. Umm.. yeah,... that's kinda what I'm trying to do and having problems. Can you help?
Grrrr... for the second time in one post.
Perhaps something fantastical will happen and make this all a moot point... like a jet engine falling through the roof of my bedroom....
This list generating stuff is gonna drive me insane! I feel like I've just been thrown out into library stacks and told "pick good stuff" without any sense of rhyme or reason.
The stacks of books around my desk are piling up as I pull them off my shelves, or borrow them from the library, trying to figure out if they need to be included on a 'comprehensive' list that, if I read it, will presumably make me an expert in three clearly defined areas and give me permission to go on to the dissertation. [And I don't even want to think about the headaches that process will bring with it.]
You know, most of the time, I'm not at all jealous of Dwayne's work - the volume he has to read (and memorize! something I never have to worry about) is prodigious. But at times like this, I am jealous. He may have a lot to read, but at least he knows WHAT he's got to read to pass exams. I've not only got to read and respond to the questions at the end of this year, but I've got to guess right about what I need to read in order to make things profitable.
Grrrrrr. I've felt really unsupported by the department/faculty before, but this really feels like I'm being thrown to the lions.
There is one lining in the cloud - I won't call it silver, 'cause it's probably more like a kind of graphite-grey color (you know, the color of silver when it gets tarnished? or maybe the color of a new car?).
When I first sat down with these lists, I had no clue what to put on them. I would look at the topic and think "I know nothing about this", but then I would start with a title or two, or an author or two, which would lead to another, and then another, and then another,... which was kinda cool 'cause it made me feel smart (or at least well read). But after about a hundred 'anothers', I started to panic again. How do I whittle this huge list down to size? Ideally, I figure about 20 primary texts plus the same number of secondary sources in each of the three areas is going to be the maximum I can read while still taking my exams by next summer.
...Okay, so I checked and the list is actually only about 46, not a hundred... but that's still twice as big as it should be.
And I figure I should have a list of only about 12-15 when I submit it to my supervisor, 'cause I know she'll add to it. And if I give her a list with 30 things on it, I'll get a list with 50 back! [I learnt that lesson with that monster reading course I did last term.]
Speaking of which, I finally got an email back from the prof - something to the effect of "I just read through all of your bibliography and I'm glad I gave you an A 'cause this is good work" - note the past tense of the verb: "gave". Nice to know I'm getting good marks after careful consideration... or maybe he was just impressed by the number of pages I turned in...
There's three lists. The Victorian one, I'm pretty cool with - my supervisor for that area gave me some good suggestions, and with my own interests, I think I've rounded out the list of primary texts. I'll still need to read/re-read them, find secondary sources, read them to decide if they need to go on, and then compile that half of the list, but that will just be time-consuming. I at least know what I've got to do there.
The Narrative theory list will be fairly basic also, though it will take me a lot more time since I've only read a couple of the theoretical works. But I've got a clear plan of action. I'm going to read excerpts of the key writers from two anthologies, and then decide whether I need to read their full book, or just an article - that will then become my list. Straightforward, but a lot of time - even more than the Victorian I figure.
It's the third list that's got me buggered. I want to read and test in twentieth century British prose fiction.
Problem is, there's a helluva lot of British prose fiction written in the last hundred years. Even trying to fashion an area based on a potential thesis on the failures of realism in the British novel still leaves me a lot of categories to cover. I need to include the big names of the post-war period, Amis (both of them), Sinclair, McEwan, Swift, Banks, Barker, Rushdie, Byatt, etc. to name a few, but also can't totally gloss over the modernists like Joyce, Woolf, Conrad, and for continuity-sake with the Victorian, should include the Edwardian period (though I may try to shoehorn them into Victorian to balance out the lists, if I can figure out a way to justify that).
But I also want to look at sf, magic realism, and fantasy... something necessary if I'm going to discuss realist and non-realist text. So okay, maybe I include Lewis Carroll and Tolkien and C.S. Lewis (but you notice the children's lit angle beginning here? not a path I want to go down), but then I also want to include sf, which in some ways is fairly straightforward Aldis, Wyndham Lewis, Lessing,... but do I then also go into utopian/dystopian by including Orwell, Huxley etc.? I'm thinking of putting William Morris on the Victorian list, so if I include a Victorian utopic, do I need to include the twentieth century ones? After all, utopia/dystopia starts to leak into the political, which really has nothing to do with realism [anything you read into that is fully intended...]
But then with the magic realism you get into the thorny question of defining it, and when you start to define it, you start to define a postcolonial/colonial reading list, and then the list really does grow, because you start including Commonwealth stuff like Hulme, Carey, Achebe, Okri, Ishiguro, Lowry, Naipaul etc.... and that could be a list all on its own.
I suppose someone wise might advise me to go talk to my supervisor about all this, right? Right! That would be great advice!
Problem is, I've already talked to her twice about setting up this reading list. The first time, I got the distinct impression she was suggesting I find someone else to supervise this area. Second time, she told me that I needed to decide what I wanted on the list. Umm.. yeah,... that's kinda what I'm trying to do and having problems. Can you help?
Grrrr... for the second time in one post.
Perhaps something fantastical will happen and make this all a moot point... like a jet engine falling through the roof of my bedroom....
Thursday, May 27, 2004
Cold
It's 64F in the Writing Centre where I'm working. That's 18C for the rest of the world.
A nice temperature if you're going for a run, or you've just come in from the beach in summer.
Not a nice temperature when you are sitting in it for hours inactive. It's May and I'm shivering.
A nice temperature if you're going for a run, or you've just come in from the beach in summer.
Not a nice temperature when you are sitting in it for hours inactive. It's May and I'm shivering.
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Time Warp?
There may be a wormhole somewhere over the Charles River.
Today I left home 5 minutes later than usual... and got to work a half hour late.
Wormhole. Definitely. Or space alien abduction... and I just don't want to go there.
Today I left home 5 minutes later than usual... and got to work a half hour late.
Wormhole. Definitely. Or space alien abduction... and I just don't want to go there.
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Hockey night in Boston
Nope, it doesn't have quite the right ring.
But it will be hockey night in Boston as we watch the Flames and Lightning begin their respective quests for the cup.
The New York Times sports writers filled a page and a half in anticipation of the series beginning tonight. From their article, they discuss the economics of a league that's grown radically in the last 30 odd years: "[Ignila's] team with a relatively low payroll in a relatively small city, is one of the 12 clubs to have made the conference finals in the last three seasons. More than some sports, hockey's competitive balance offers championship possibilities even for frugal teams in small markets.
On the other had, franchises in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles failed to make the playoffs this season. For the Rangers, it was the seventh consecutive season without postseason exposure..." The Rangers? Where do they belong in an article about the playoffs? I mean, I realize this is the New York Times, but its the Boston version - if they want to at least mention a team that made it to the post season, they could mention the Bruins (even if they didn't last long). There's more to hockey than the Rangers.
But wait, it gets better...."Although neither the Lightning nor the Flames are familiar to the sports world at large..." What? Which sports world? Oh, right, the sports world of the Yankees and the Knicks. In Hockey world, rest assured, the Flames are well known. You know, the Hockey world that supplies half of the NHL's players.
But it will be hockey night in Boston as we watch the Flames and Lightning begin their respective quests for the cup.
The New York Times sports writers filled a page and a half in anticipation of the series beginning tonight. From their article, they discuss the economics of a league that's grown radically in the last 30 odd years: "[Ignila's] team with a relatively low payroll in a relatively small city, is one of the 12 clubs to have made the conference finals in the last three seasons. More than some sports, hockey's competitive balance offers championship possibilities even for frugal teams in small markets.
On the other had, franchises in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles failed to make the playoffs this season. For the Rangers, it was the seventh consecutive season without postseason exposure..." The Rangers? Where do they belong in an article about the playoffs? I mean, I realize this is the New York Times, but its the Boston version - if they want to at least mention a team that made it to the post season, they could mention the Bruins (even if they didn't last long). There's more to hockey than the Rangers.
But wait, it gets better...."Although neither the Lightning nor the Flames are familiar to the sports world at large..." What? Which sports world? Oh, right, the sports world of the Yankees and the Knicks. In Hockey world, rest assured, the Flames are well known. You know, the Hockey world that supplies half of the NHL's players.
New Link
So instead of boring you if you don't give a damn what I'm reading, I've included it as a link on the left. If you're curious about what I read and what I think of it, you can read it.
If you're not curious, you can avoid scrolling through the periodic, and sometimes long, posts about books I've read.
Because I intend to continue rambling on about books.
Kinda makes sense given the sheer volume of time I spend "with my nose in a book" as my family puts it. Personally, I don't think that's a terribly dignified description of what I do, but I can only argue with the semantics, not the sentiment, of the phrase.
If you're not curious, you can avoid scrolling through the periodic, and sometimes long, posts about books I've read.
Because I intend to continue rambling on about books.
Kinda makes sense given the sheer volume of time I spend "with my nose in a book" as my family puts it. Personally, I don't think that's a terribly dignified description of what I do, but I can only argue with the semantics, not the sentiment, of the phrase.
Morning music
Okay, so for the last couple of weeks, I have occasionally woken up with a song running through my head.
Why might I make note of this?
Because I realized that the song that has played in my head this week in the early morning is off an album that I listened to on the weekend. And I know it's from the album because the one this week is from an old album and there's no way that song got airtime or I heard it from somewhere else.
Weird. Of course I like the songs - I wouldn't have listened to them otherwise, but it's awfully weird.
Why might I make note of this?
Because I realized that the song that has played in my head this week in the early morning is off an album that I listened to on the weekend. And I know it's from the album because the one this week is from an old album and there's no way that song got airtime or I heard it from somewhere else.
Weird. Of course I like the songs - I wouldn't have listened to them otherwise, but it's awfully weird.
Monday, May 24, 2004
Saturday, May 22, 2004
Obsession
Still waiting for my work permission. I'm almost obsessive about it. Ok, well, yeah, I am obsessive about it. I'm like a dog when I hear the mailbox lid clang. I almost run to the door.
I'm starting to wonder if I'll even get the permission. I'm starting to lose hope.
And even if I get permission, can I get a job?
The really good jobs, the teaching ones, are all gone by now. That's bad 'cause they pay real good and that's what this whole thing is about. But since I teach all year, it would be kinda neat to get a different job.
The other kinds of jobs that I might like to do are starting to dry up as well though. Pretty soon it's gonna be nothing but landscaping and retail, neither of which really float my boat. Or I'm really very good at.
Did I mention I'm not a very patient person?
I'm starting to wonder if I'll even get the permission. I'm starting to lose hope.
And even if I get permission, can I get a job?
The really good jobs, the teaching ones, are all gone by now. That's bad 'cause they pay real good and that's what this whole thing is about. But since I teach all year, it would be kinda neat to get a different job.
The other kinds of jobs that I might like to do are starting to dry up as well though. Pretty soon it's gonna be nothing but landscaping and retail, neither of which really float my boat. Or I'm really very good at.
Did I mention I'm not a very patient person?
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
I like English, but...
I'm not trained in teaching English as a Second Language. As a native speaker of the language (despite having to provide the secret "eyebrow" password to be allowed to teach last year), I know how to use it, but I'm not always good at explaining why the phrase is "obligated to" and not "obligated for", and other such interesting ESL confusions.
My university, in its infinite wisdom, and despite complaints from our department, has decided to integrate ALL freshmen, including ESL students into the regular English classroom. And since the English courses I teach are both required courses for EVERY undergrad, that means they're landing in our classrooms. I just spent an hour and half trying to figure out what this student was trying to say, when I only spent 15 to 20 minutes reading everyone else's papers.
It's gonna be a long semester... even if it is a condensed one. I need a drink.
My university, in its infinite wisdom, and despite complaints from our department, has decided to integrate ALL freshmen, including ESL students into the regular English classroom. And since the English courses I teach are both required courses for EVERY undergrad, that means they're landing in our classrooms. I just spent an hour and half trying to figure out what this student was trying to say, when I only spent 15 to 20 minutes reading everyone else's papers.
It's gonna be a long semester... even if it is a condensed one. I need a drink.
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Same-sex marriage
Yesterday, Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage in the U.S. - not civil unions, but marriage.
Protests seemed rather tepid - perhaps people just expect that this is inevitable. But this is from the same state that only just this year made it legal to purchase alcohol on a Sunday.
And that's about as political as I'll probably ever get on this blog.
Protests seemed rather tepid - perhaps people just expect that this is inevitable. But this is from the same state that only just this year made it legal to purchase alcohol on a Sunday.
And that's about as political as I'll probably ever get on this blog.
Monday, May 17, 2004
Time
Time really annoys me some days.
The worst part about it is that something that is so abstract can actually be so annoying. Rude drivers are annoying, pop cans that spray when opened are annoying, screaming children are annoying, junk mail is annoying. These are all very tangible things.
Time is not tangible. Yet we treat it as if it is. We talk about spending it, saving it, stealing it, "clocking" it, having it (whether good or bad), marking it; it can both fly and crawl, it heals all things, we designate particular segments of it to die, to live, to reap, to mourn, to sow, we divide it and multiply it, add and subtract it... we even average it. We try to match it, to beat it, and usually are unhappy with the amount we have - we either want more or less of it.
Right now, I have too much... so I blog.
The worst part about it is that something that is so abstract can actually be so annoying. Rude drivers are annoying, pop cans that spray when opened are annoying, screaming children are annoying, junk mail is annoying. These are all very tangible things.
Time is not tangible. Yet we treat it as if it is. We talk about spending it, saving it, stealing it, "clocking" it, having it (whether good or bad), marking it; it can both fly and crawl, it heals all things, we designate particular segments of it to die, to live, to reap, to mourn, to sow, we divide it and multiply it, add and subtract it... we even average it. We try to match it, to beat it, and usually are unhappy with the amount we have - we either want more or less of it.
Right now, I have too much... so I blog.
Saturday, May 15, 2004
It's gonna be a hot summer
Ack! We hit 31 c today but I can't find the storage bin with my shorts or summer tops. I'm gonna cook this summer if I can't find them soon!
Friday, May 14, 2004
Dilemmas
I know it's not really a dilemma, since my guilt-ridden-mother conscience would never allow me to stop doing it, but I am sorely tempted to quit driving my kids to stuff.
I've spent about ten hours in the last couple of days driving people places...and the weekend calls for even more. I'm sorely tempted to hand them each a bus pass and say 'go for it'.
But I of course won't do that. It is taking a huge chunk out of my week just spending time chauffering people around - it's going to become a problem if it continues. I can't keep up this chauffering pace and still do all the studying I need to do. But it feels selfish to tell the kids they can't go to stuff because I have to study.
In all fairness, they've done a pretty good job of getting rides etc. when necessary and it's probably just the out-of-the-ordinary nature of the things I have to drive them to that's got me freaked out. One has three soccer practices and the other has a bunch of activities all having to do with her trip to Colorado this summer, most of which take place in a part of boston that is far away from our end of the world. Yesterday, it was driving 45 minutes each way in rush hour traffic, only to find out the group we were supposed to meet weren't there.
I hope this is the last busy driving week... *sigh* though I suspect it won't be.
I've spent about ten hours in the last couple of days driving people places...and the weekend calls for even more. I'm sorely tempted to hand them each a bus pass and say 'go for it'.
But I of course won't do that. It is taking a huge chunk out of my week just spending time chauffering people around - it's going to become a problem if it continues. I can't keep up this chauffering pace and still do all the studying I need to do. But it feels selfish to tell the kids they can't go to stuff because I have to study.
In all fairness, they've done a pretty good job of getting rides etc. when necessary and it's probably just the out-of-the-ordinary nature of the things I have to drive them to that's got me freaked out. One has three soccer practices and the other has a bunch of activities all having to do with her trip to Colorado this summer, most of which take place in a part of boston that is far away from our end of the world. Yesterday, it was driving 45 minutes each way in rush hour traffic, only to find out the group we were supposed to meet weren't there.
I hope this is the last busy driving week... *sigh* though I suspect it won't be.
Thursday, May 13, 2004
Still waiting
I'm still waiting to find out if I'll have permission to work this summer. Which isn't a positive thing since the longer I wait, the harder it will be to find a good job. I was expecting to hear back in the middle of April, which was late enough. [I had problems getting information from the Alberta government that I needed with my application, so I submitted it much later than I had planned.]
I heard from them, but it was a request for more information. They said it could be as little as two weeks and as long as two months before I hear back. I'm getting edgy. Summer jobs are hard enough to find around here, but if I can't even put myself in the running for another month, I'm gonna end up scooping ice cream for tourists for $5/hr.
Working for peanuts in an unchallenging job seems hardly worth it. In that case, it might be better to spend the summer studying and try to shorten up the time it will take me to finish this degree so I can find (hopefully) a real job!
I heard from them, but it was a request for more information. They said it could be as little as two weeks and as long as two months before I hear back. I'm getting edgy. Summer jobs are hard enough to find around here, but if I can't even put myself in the running for another month, I'm gonna end up scooping ice cream for tourists for $5/hr.
Working for peanuts in an unchallenging job seems hardly worth it. In that case, it might be better to spend the summer studying and try to shorten up the time it will take me to finish this degree so I can find (hopefully) a real job!
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Subliminal messaging?
I found this photo while conducting a search for 'genre theory', so I don't exactly recall the connection that got me there... not that it's important.
At first I had no idea what the image was supposed to be showing, probably because I was thinking lit theory, and the title didn't really make sense to me at first, but then I realized the French writing was longer than the English on the tag and also realized that it wasn't exactly washing instructions in the last few lines. My French isn't so good, but I think I got the gist of the message.
I am amused.
At first I had no idea what the image was supposed to be showing, probably because I was thinking lit theory, and the title didn't really make sense to me at first, but then I realized the French writing was longer than the English on the tag and also realized that it wasn't exactly washing instructions in the last few lines. My French isn't so good, but I think I got the gist of the message.
I am amused.
Good food & energetic kids
Went to the Summer Search spring event last night. What is Summer Search you ask? It's a scholarship program that sends eager, good students with leadership potential on wilderness expeditions that usually involve a human service component.
Sandy's going through them to Colorado this summer.
We're still waiting to hear which program she'll attend, so we don't know the dates or the sequence of activities, but she'll be in Colorado or surrounding areas in the backcountry for somewhere around a month.
Scarier sending her away for a month to someplace I've never been than sending her and her sisters back home for a visit last summer.
But last night was a potluck dinner for the students and their families. Some of the students have some amazing stories. One student who spoke after the dinner was the first in his family to graduate high school, let alone go to college (which he's doing on a full scholarship). Another student was a former gang member who now attends Harvard Business school. Amazing kids...and mine is one of them.
Funders also attend the event, and students were encouraged to go talk to them and thank them for attending. Sandy's response to this? "No problem, I learned how to talk to adults because of all the parties you've thrown". Hmmm...is that actually a good thing? *grin*
Had lots of great food and heard some neat stories. I'm looking forward to Sandy's stories when she gets back home.
Sandy's going through them to Colorado this summer.
We're still waiting to hear which program she'll attend, so we don't know the dates or the sequence of activities, but she'll be in Colorado or surrounding areas in the backcountry for somewhere around a month.
Scarier sending her away for a month to someplace I've never been than sending her and her sisters back home for a visit last summer.
But last night was a potluck dinner for the students and their families. Some of the students have some amazing stories. One student who spoke after the dinner was the first in his family to graduate high school, let alone go to college (which he's doing on a full scholarship). Another student was a former gang member who now attends Harvard Business school. Amazing kids...and mine is one of them.
Funders also attend the event, and students were encouraged to go talk to them and thank them for attending. Sandy's response to this? "No problem, I learned how to talk to adults because of all the parties you've thrown". Hmmm...is that actually a good thing? *grin*
Had lots of great food and heard some neat stories. I'm looking forward to Sandy's stories when she gets back home.
Sunday, May 09, 2004
Happy Mother's Day
Don't know what I'll be doing for the rest of today. I was sick yesterday, so I still feel a bit shaky and it's raining so the outdoor plans the girls had made are out, so we'll see what is new.
Got breakfast, which was nice. But they were fighting about how to make the pancakes, which was not nice.
I know it sounds so sappy (and perhaps is unrealistic, but hey, it's my day and I can engage in flights of fancy if I like) but I think I would be thrilled to get a day at home where everyone tries really hard to get along. That would be a great mother's day gift!
Got breakfast, which was nice. But they were fighting about how to make the pancakes, which was not nice.
I know it sounds so sappy (and perhaps is unrealistic, but hey, it's my day and I can engage in flights of fancy if I like) but I think I would be thrilled to get a day at home where everyone tries really hard to get along. That would be a great mother's day gift!
Friday, May 07, 2004
The blind leading the blind
There's an institute for the blind that I pass on my way to school most days. Today, I saw two people heading toward it, both sporting white canes.
You know the saying "the blind leading the blind"? There's always the implication that the people or situation it's applied to is rootless, uncoordinated, or otherwise a useless, or ill-advised venture.
After seeing this couple, I don't think that saying 'means what it thinks it means'. They had a system that worked fabulously from what I could see, and seemed to work better with two of them than singly. The man was leading, sweeping his cane from side to side, as usual. The woman, because she was grasping his elbow (as she might another other person guiding her), was a half a pace behind, and she swung her cane in a half-arc, from the middle to the outside, away from the side her guide was walking on.
This way, they increased the width of sidewalk they were able to gather information about, and ran less of a chance of running into stuff. And with her half arc, she kept him from underestimating how much room she had between herself and obstacles without constantly hitting him in the process.
Looked pretty efficient to me. That saying is going to mean something different to me now everytime I hear it.
You know the saying "the blind leading the blind"? There's always the implication that the people or situation it's applied to is rootless, uncoordinated, or otherwise a useless, or ill-advised venture.
After seeing this couple, I don't think that saying 'means what it thinks it means'. They had a system that worked fabulously from what I could see, and seemed to work better with two of them than singly. The man was leading, sweeping his cane from side to side, as usual. The woman, because she was grasping his elbow (as she might another other person guiding her), was a half a pace behind, and she swung her cane in a half-arc, from the middle to the outside, away from the side her guide was walking on.
This way, they increased the width of sidewalk they were able to gather information about, and ran less of a chance of running into stuff. And with her half arc, she kept him from underestimating how much room she had between herself and obstacles without constantly hitting him in the process.
Looked pretty efficient to me. That saying is going to mean something different to me now everytime I hear it.
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
Body needs
My body needs food and rest. I think I can manage the first one pretty quick, but the second one will be a long time coming. Summer classes have begun, and NU is hosting the Cultural Studies Association conference here starting today, so I'm pretty busy.
I am NOT a morning person - these 8 am classes feel really brutal... and yesterday's felt especially brutal since I stayed up till the early morning hours watching the Flames kick the Wings collective asses with that fabuous last minute goal in overtime play. Sweet!
You know, the best thing about hockey is being able to share it with other people. I tell someone around here about the game and they just look at me with puzzled looks on their faces. Maybe its just English geeks, maybe its because its not the Bruins, maybe hockey culture is just that much more pervasive in Canada. Who knows - the result though is that I had nobody to share the excitement of the game with.
Since I can't get sleep, and can't find someone to talk hockey with, I think I'll go get food...
I am NOT a morning person - these 8 am classes feel really brutal... and yesterday's felt especially brutal since I stayed up till the early morning hours watching the Flames kick the Wings collective asses with that fabuous last minute goal in overtime play. Sweet!
You know, the best thing about hockey is being able to share it with other people. I tell someone around here about the game and they just look at me with puzzled looks on their faces. Maybe its just English geeks, maybe its because its not the Bruins, maybe hockey culture is just that much more pervasive in Canada. Who knows - the result though is that I had nobody to share the excitement of the game with.
Since I can't get sleep, and can't find someone to talk hockey with, I think I'll go get food...
Monday, May 03, 2004
While I mess around with pictures
I've been trying to find a place to put pictures so you can see them ('cause I'm cheap and don't want to pay for the FTP version).
While I mess around and get more frustrated, I thought you might as well be entertained. I was highly amused by this summary of The Simarillion. Boiled down to 1000 words, it still captures the essence of a very long and detailed book!
While I mess around and get more frustrated, I thought you might as well be entertained. I was highly amused by this summary of The Simarillion. Boiled down to 1000 words, it still captures the essence of a very long and detailed book!
Sunday, May 02, 2004
Language adjustment
I was searching through archives for an event that I was hoping I'd blogged about so I could figure out the date when I noticed that the language I use in my blog varies considerably from month to month and even from day to day.
Sometimes I avoid swearing either by choosing other words or inserting those annoying symbols, and other times I just let it rip.
I suppose it comes from trying to imagine who will read that particular entry. Some of the people who I know have access to the blog detest profanity, others probably wonder why my language is so sanitary, when it isn't in real life.
My language in general is far cleaner than it used to be. I don't know whether that's because a) I'm getting older; b) I have kids; or c) I'm entering a profession that frowns on swearing (especially in front of the students!). Perhaps it's all three. With the kids, you know, I've given up on trying to suppress all my swearing because I know its a lost cause.
Besides, they'll probably all experiment with swearing at one point or another. Growing up in a house that was squeakly clean, I remember clearly the thrill of how illicit it felt the first time I swore... and that's probably why I got to sounding like a sailor at one point (working in an all-male auto body shop probably had something to do with it as well). If I can teach my kids judicious swearing... as something that must be used sparingly for finely-timed emphasis, then maybe they'll be better off. Or at least that's what I tell myself.
So what does that have to do with my blog? Probably nothing. But I'll likely continue to waver between sanitary and gutter.
You've been warned.
Sometimes I avoid swearing either by choosing other words or inserting those annoying symbols, and other times I just let it rip.
I suppose it comes from trying to imagine who will read that particular entry. Some of the people who I know have access to the blog detest profanity, others probably wonder why my language is so sanitary, when it isn't in real life.
My language in general is far cleaner than it used to be. I don't know whether that's because a) I'm getting older; b) I have kids; or c) I'm entering a profession that frowns on swearing (especially in front of the students!). Perhaps it's all three. With the kids, you know, I've given up on trying to suppress all my swearing because I know its a lost cause.
Besides, they'll probably all experiment with swearing at one point or another. Growing up in a house that was squeakly clean, I remember clearly the thrill of how illicit it felt the first time I swore... and that's probably why I got to sounding like a sailor at one point (working in an all-male auto body shop probably had something to do with it as well). If I can teach my kids judicious swearing... as something that must be used sparingly for finely-timed emphasis, then maybe they'll be better off. Or at least that's what I tell myself.
So what does that have to do with my blog? Probably nothing. But I'll likely continue to waver between sanitary and gutter.
You've been warned.
Saturday, May 01, 2004
More books
See? Titles... so you can decide whether you want to read the rest of the post. But I should warn you that just because I've felt the need to add titles does not mean I feel the need to strictly adhere to them and not wander off into talking about other things.
Having said that, I haven't written about books for a long time - over a month, so here's what I've been reading:
Finished:
The DaVinci Code - Dan Brown
Walking on Glass - Iain Banks
Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
How the Dead Live - Will Self
The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - R. L. Stevenson
Five Children and It - E. Nesbit
Reading:
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeline L'Engle
On Deck:
[Ha! This is actually a very long list, but I think I'll start with the following:]
Dracula - Bram Stoker
Narrative/theory - David Richter
Lullaby - Chuck Palanhiuk
So, The DaVinci Code was interesting, but it's definitely plane-material. It's got some cool ideas, but doesn't make you think to hard about them. And even though it's long, it's also a really quick read. That some of the far out stuff mentioned in the book actually takes place outside literature (i.e. the real world) is slightly disturbing in a fascinating kind of way.
Walking on Glass was cool in a alternate-world-intersects-with-thought-process-of-insane-person kind of way. A neat premise and also a fun read. Quick too because it's short. Only problem is that I think I had to special order this one if I remember right because it's out of print. Maybe I could do a documentary about it in a kind of Stones of Summer (which is also on that summer list, but I'll read it later when the pool opens) way and get it back in print!
The Victorian stuff, Dorian Gray, Jekyll & Hyde, Tess, are actually not very Victorian (i.e. they weigh in at less than the usual 800 pages) and I have a newfound respect for Hardy that I had lost reading Jude the Obscure. I actually found myself empathisizing with Tess and really getting involved in her problems, feeling the injustice of her position and such, something that I rarely lose myself to in Victorian lit, so I was duly impressed by the book.
I did not feel that How the Dead Live or Day of the Triffids wasted my time, but unless you want to read a lot of obscure sf, don't bother. If you are into obscure sf and you like old sf film, then you definitely need to read Triffids and then see the movie adaptation.
I'm looking forward to rereading Dracula, since its been a very long time and too many film adaptation screenings since I read it to really remember it well. Hopefully I'll get it done before next weekend when Van Helsing opens, since I'm DEFINITELY going to see that.
Having said that, I haven't written about books for a long time - over a month, so here's what I've been reading:
Finished:
The DaVinci Code - Dan Brown
Walking on Glass - Iain Banks
Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
How the Dead Live - Will Self
The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - R. L. Stevenson
Five Children and It - E. Nesbit
Reading:
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeline L'Engle
On Deck:
[Ha! This is actually a very long list, but I think I'll start with the following:]
Dracula - Bram Stoker
Narrative/theory - David Richter
Lullaby - Chuck Palanhiuk
So, The DaVinci Code was interesting, but it's definitely plane-material. It's got some cool ideas, but doesn't make you think to hard about them. And even though it's long, it's also a really quick read. That some of the far out stuff mentioned in the book actually takes place outside literature (i.e. the real world) is slightly disturbing in a fascinating kind of way.
Walking on Glass was cool in a alternate-world-intersects-with-thought-process-of-insane-person kind of way. A neat premise and also a fun read. Quick too because it's short. Only problem is that I think I had to special order this one if I remember right because it's out of print. Maybe I could do a documentary about it in a kind of Stones of Summer (which is also on that summer list, but I'll read it later when the pool opens) way and get it back in print!
The Victorian stuff, Dorian Gray, Jekyll & Hyde, Tess, are actually not very Victorian (i.e. they weigh in at less than the usual 800 pages) and I have a newfound respect for Hardy that I had lost reading Jude the Obscure. I actually found myself empathisizing with Tess and really getting involved in her problems, feeling the injustice of her position and such, something that I rarely lose myself to in Victorian lit, so I was duly impressed by the book.
I did not feel that How the Dead Live or Day of the Triffids wasted my time, but unless you want to read a lot of obscure sf, don't bother. If you are into obscure sf and you like old sf film, then you definitely need to read Triffids and then see the movie adaptation.
I'm looking forward to rereading Dracula, since its been a very long time and too many film adaptation screenings since I read it to really remember it well. Hopefully I'll get it done before next weekend when Van Helsing opens, since I'm DEFINITELY going to see that.
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